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Former Piscataway Minister Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Girl In 1990s

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A former assistant youth minister at a church in Piscataway, New Jersey stood charged Tuesday with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl on several occasions in the late 1990s.

Middlesex County prosecutors said Ronald Wilcox, 60 – now of Fruitland, Maryland -- was arrested Saturday in his current state of residence. He was charged with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated sexual contact, sexual contact and child endangerment.

Wilcox remained in custody in Maryland Tuesday evening, but was expected to be returned to New Jersey. Bail had not yet been set.

Wilcox lived in Piscataway at the time the alleged sexual assaults occurred. At the time, prosecutors said he was serving as a deacon-in-training and assisted the youth ministry at the Macedonia Freewill Baptist Church in Piscataway.

Prosecutors said the assaults occurred in a church office and at the victim's home between July 1996 and sometime in 1998.

The investigation began after the victim, now an adult, told a relative about the alleged assaults, and the relative contacted authorities. Authorities did not say whether the victim was a church member or associated with the church when the alleged attacks occurred.

(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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