The Des Moines Register reports that the ruling Friday reverses a previous decision by the Iowa Court of Appeals that found Patrick Edouard deserved a new trial.

Edouard was charged after four women complained in 2011 that he had repeatedly coerced them into sexual relationships while counseling them. He quit his clergy job but fought the charges. Jurors acquitted him of sexual abuse charges, but found him guilty of four sexual exploitation counts.

Edouard argued that he did not have a formal counseling relationship with the women.

But the high court upheld Edouard's five-year prison sentence, saying Iowa law includes clergy members in its definition of counselor or therapist.