TUPELO, Miss. (WJTV) – A former Mississippi youth pastor has been sentenced after pleading guilty to having sex with a 16-year-old church member.

The Daily Journal reported Alexander Blackwelder, 28, pled guilty to two counts of sexual battery by a person in position of authority.

A judge sentenced Blackwelder to 30 years per count, and then suspended all but 10 years. He was given credit for the nearly two years he spent in the Lee County Jail since his arrest.

Blackwelder was also ordered to pay nearly $8,000 in court costs and fines. He will have to register as a sex offender when he’s released from prison.

Officials with the Tupelo Police Department (TPD) said officers received an anonymous tip on February 15, 2023, about a possible inappropriate relationship between Blackwelder and a minor.

Lee County Sheriff Jim H. Johnson said Blackwelder faced additional charges when deputies began looking into some allegations that occurred outside of the City of Tupelo.

Blackwelder was the youth pastor at East Main Street Church of Christ when the investigation began.