UNITED STATES/INDIA
KSTP
A priest who was convicted of fondling a 12-year-old girl while he was working in the Diocese of Winona has been deported to his native India.
Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say 48-year-old Leo Charles Koppala was turned over to authorities in New Delhi on Wednesday.
Koppola was charged last June with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He pleaded guilty in March, admitting he fondled the girl while eating dinner at her grandmother’s house.
The Diocese of Winona has said Koppala was assigned in 2009 to the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Blue Earth and to St. Mary’s in Winnebago. He was placed on leave in June, and the diocese alerted his home diocese of Nellore, India.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.