A onetime Lenoir City pastor has been convicted of repeatedly raping one of his adopted daughters.

According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, David Lynn Richards, Jr., the former pastor of My Father’s House Church of God in Lenoir City, was convicted and is awaiting sentencing for rape and incest.

The young woman, who is now 21, and one of her siblings, were fostered and later adopted by Richards and his wife. The couple later divorced.

The daughter was 16 when she first reported the abuse to authorities, saying it had begun two years earlier. She alerted authorities to where they could find DNA evidence in the home, adding Richards had texted her about taking their relationship “to the next level.”

Authorities said they were able to recover Richards’ DNA, despite the fact the girl’s mattress had been stripped bare and he’d done a factory reset on his phone.