MINNESOTA
Austin Daily Herald

By Trey Mewes

He was a gifted theologian, a man who was expected to become a leader. He was a passionate priest who volunteered in the community, helped the Boy Scouts and was a chaplain for the National Guard.

He preyed upon high school-aged boys and sexually assaulted several Austin teens during his time in the community. He allegedly plied elementary students with drugs and alcohol. He was forced to leave the Catholic Church after he molested another man.

He was a complicated sexual predator, and his victims throughout southeast Minnesota include several people in Austin. His name was Father Jack Krough.

“He was a very smart perpetrator,” Attorney Patrick Wall said. “There was never any physical violence that he ever used. It was all coercion.”

Portrait of a wayward priest

The community at large didn’t know Krough was accused of sexual assault until the…