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U.S. Supreme Court Rejects St. Paul Priest's Sex Conviction Appeal

Pioneer Press
December 7, 2015

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_29214093/u-s-supreme-court-rejects-st-paul-priests

Christopher Thomas Wenthe (Courtesy of Ramsey County sheriff)

The U.S. Supreme Court has turned away an appeal from a St. Paul priest convicted of having sex with a woman who was seeking his spiritual advice.

The justices on Monday left in place the sexual misconduct conviction of the Rev. Christopher Wenthe. The priest was convicted in 2011 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with the woman at a meeting in which she sought counseling in 2003.

State law makes it a felony for clergy members to have sex with people they are spiritually advising. Wenthe acknowledged that he and the woman had a 15-month sexual relationship, but he denied that he was providing spiritual aid in those months at Nativity of Our Lord parish.

An intermediate appeals court threw out the conviction, but the Minnesota Supreme Court reinstated it in June.

Wenthe, on leave from active ministry since he was charged, will remain on leave pending an internal review of his actions, Tim O'Malley, director of ministerial standards and safe environment for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, said after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruling.

"In accordance with our normal protocols, the internal review process begins only after completion of any criminal investigation and judicial process so as to not interfere with either," O'Malley said in a statement.

 

 

 

 

 




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