The pastor of a Newport Beach church Thursday released a statement to his congregation regarding an elder who was charged this week with sexually assaulting a girl for over 10 years in Irvine, saying he was removed from his position within the church.

Michael Robert Maxwell, 42, was charged Tuesday with 18 felony counts of sexual assault involving the girl starting in 2011 and continuing through 2018, according to court records. Maxwell did not enter a plea at his arraignment in the jail courtroom in Santa Ana on Tuesday and is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 12 in the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

“Given Michael’s position and relationships in the church, we are concerned about the possibility of other victims,” Josh Hahne, senior pastor of Redeemer Church of Orange County, wr

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