MADISON, WI (WTAQ) - A former pastor from west central Wisconsin will spend 18 months in prison for molesting a boy he met in an Internet chat room for gay teenagers.

51-year-old Ervin Witmer of Owen struck a plea deal in October, when he pleaded guilty to a Dane County charge of second-degree child sexual assault. Two similar counts were dropped.

Prosecutors said Witmer discovered that the boy was sexually-abused by a relative when he was younger. He then arranged to meet the teen at a motel in Madison, and officials said he had sex with the youngster after that.

Witmer was a pastor at the Church of the Brethren in Stanley until 2011, when he became a district manager for a distributor of Christian books.