ODESSA, Texas (Nexstar)- Aaron Shipman, head pastor at Bible Baptist Church in Odessa has been arrested and charged with sexual assault. 

According to an arrest affidavit, on January 17, an 18-year-old woman told investigators with the Odessa Police Department that she had been sexually abused and assaulted several times over the last two years. An exam revealed the victim had sustained sexual trauma.

In a statement to ABC Big 2 News, church leaders said Shipman has been fired from his job as pastor and is banned indefinitely from church property. That statement reads, in part: 

“As a ministry, we are deeply saddened and hurt to hear of the allegations brought against Aaron Shipman…We are, and will continue to be in full cooperation with the authorities and any state officials.”

Shipman has since been released from the Ector County Detention Center on a $60,000 bond.