MINNESOTA
The Citizen
By Deb Barnes & Debra Neutkens
HUGO — Area Catholics are waiting to hear whether child pornography charges will be filed against a priest who led parishioners at St. John the Baptist in Hugo and St. Jude of the Lake in Mahtomedi.
Earlier this month Rev. Jonathan Shelley denied any illegal activity and released a statement this weekend thanking former parishioners for their concern and asking for continued prayers on his behalf.
St. Paul Police were investigating a report that pornography possibly including child pornography, was found on a computer that once belonged to Shelley.
Washington County Attorney Pete Orput told The Citizen Monday the statute of limitations on possession of child pornography is three years. Because the computer hard drive hasn’t been in Washington County for the better part of a decade, he said, at this point his office only would be involved if other information led to “other avenues we could investigate.”
The computer was the property of Rev. Shelley at the time he was pastor at St. Jude of the Lake Church. It was turned over to the archdiocese by Hugo resident and St. Jude parishioner Joe Ternus in 2004. His father, a Mahtomedi resident, had acquired the computer after it was left in St. Jude’s empty rectory, scheduled for demolition. The house had formerly belonged to the Ternus family. After Shelley said he didn’t want it, Ternus accepted it.
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