A 55-year-old Berks County man has been charged by the state Attorney General’s Office with sexually assaulting a girl in the early 2000s when he lived in Bethlehem.

Louis Manuel Ayala-Velasquez of Reading was arraigned Wednesday on charges he sexually assaulted the girl for years. He was sent to the Northampton County Jail on $250,000.

Ayala-Velasquez was charged as part of a grand jury investigation into sexual abuse allegations involving members of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.

According to documents, Ayala-Velasquez was living in Bethlehem and was a member of the Bethlehem Spanish JW Congregation in 2001 when the abuse started. The girl was 13 at the time.

Years later the church was made aware of the abuse by the ex-boyfriend of the girl, according to court documents.

The grand jury obtained records during its investigation that indicated that Ayala-Velasquez had abused two girls.

Four other men were also charged Wednesday as a result of the grand jury investigation, according to the attorney general’s office.

They were: David Balosa, 62, of Philadelphia; Errol William Hall, 50, of Delaware County; Shaun Sheffer, 45, of Butler County; Terry Booth, 57, of Panama City, Florida.