BRADFORD COUNTY, PA (WENY) -- A former youth pastor from Bradford County pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a child almost 30-years-ago.

According to the Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office, 55-year-old Robert David Fenton pleaded guilty on Thursday to aggravated indecent assault and statutory sexual assault.

Prosecutors said Fenton was a youth pastor at "Abide in the Vine Church" in Owego when the abuse began in 1996 with a 14-year-old victim -- and lasted until 1998.

The investigation revealed that Fenton went to the parents of the victim to tell them that he had a vision from God that he should be married to the child. The parents of the victim, church officials, and Fenton came to a marriage agreement between Fenton and the child. Prosecutors said Fenton then sexually assaulted the child.

Charges were announced in 2022 after the victim, who was in her 40's, reported the abuse to Pennsylvania State Police. Fenton was living in Australia after he moved there in 1998. Prosecutors said Fenton was arrested in April of 2024 after he entered the Philippines.