Blue Earth Priest Charged with Sexual Assault Worked in Rochester

KTTC
June 13, 2013

http://www.kttc.com/story/22572412/2013/06/12/blue-earth-priest-charged-with-sexual-assault-worked-in-rochester

[with video]


The Blue Earth priest charged with sexually assulting a 12-year old girl once also worked in Rochester.

Reverend Leo Koppala was a missionary from India who worked at Resurrection Parish in Rochester before joining the Blue Earth church in 2009. He worked in Rochester for a year.

The 47-year-old priest was serving the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Blue Earth.

The Diocese of Winona said in a statement that Koppala has been placed on administrative leave, and will not be allowed to minister in the Winona diocese while the investigation continues.

You can read the entire statement from the Diocese of Winona HERE.

According to the criminal complaint filed in Faribault County, Koppala is accused of fondling an 11-year-old girl last week at the home of her grandmother where he had been invited to dinner.

Koppala is being held in the Faribault County Jail.