SHREVEPORT, LA—A Shreveport pastor was sentenced to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release for transporting minors across state lines in order to engage in illegal sexual conduct, U.S. Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today.

Andrea Lewis, 54, of Shreveport, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote for three counts of transporting minors across state lines to have sex. As a part of his sentencing, he is also required to register as a sex offender. A jury found Lewis guilty on February 28, 2014 after a five-day trial. Witness testimony and exhibits admitted into evidence established that Lewis transported at least three minors to and from Texas to have sex with them. The events happened from 1994 to 2000. Lewis is a Shreveport pastor who formed and actively recruited members of a choir, which consisted of girls mostly under the age of 18 in his congregation. He used his status as pastor and choir director to coerce young female church and, or, choir members to have sex with him. He threatened the girls not to tell anyone, and used choir trips and other church related travel to cover up sexual abuse.

“Unfortunately, this defendant took advantage of his position to abuse young girls in his care and left them with emotional and physical scars that may never heal,” Finley stated. “He has forever altered their lives, and now he must face the consequences of his deplorable actions. The Assistant U.S. Attorney, FBI agents and the Shreveport Police Department officers who worked on this case are to be commended for their hard work and efforts in prosecuting this case. They were instrumental in removing the defendant from the community. He violated not only his oath as a minister, but also the trust of parents and these young children.”

The FBI and the Shreveport Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl M. Campbell prosecuted the case.