CHICAGO - A former pastor at a church on the city's North Side has been charged with sexually assaulting two 16-year-old girls.

William T. Sherrod Jr., 28, a former associate pastor of the Living Faith Community Church, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault and criminal sexual abuse, said Cook County state's attorney spokeswoman Marcy Jensen.

Sherrod allegedly attacked the girls, who were members of the church, several times at his home between January and June, Jensen said Wednesday. He allegedly invited the girls to his home to pray, officials said.

"He was a friend of the families and a mentor," Jensen said.

One girl told a camp counselor about the alleged assaults, and the other told another pastor at the church, Jensen said. In court, prosecutors said Sherrod admitted the assaults to a pastor.

Sherrod was not paid as pastor at the church, which is part of the evangelical Moody Church, but he received a salary to run a club for children from the Cabrini-Green housing project, said executive pastor Hutz Hertzberg.

"He is no longer employed by Kids Club and the Ministry of the Living Faith Community Church or the Moody Church," Hertzberg said.

Sherrod was convicted of two felony drug convictions in 1997 and received probation, Jensen said. He was ordered held Wednesday on $300,000 bail.

Sherrod's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 30.

There was no telephone listing for Sherrod at his Chicago address.