CALIFORNIA/MINNESOTA
The Worthy Adversary
October 8, 2016 Joelle Casteix
For the second time in four years, a San Diego priest credibly accused (and later criminally charged) with sexual assault was allowed to stay in a parish while parishioners were kept in the dark.
Apparently, Bishop Robert McElroy doesn’t think that’s a big deal. He’s wrong.
Priest charged under Minnesota Law
Fr. Jacob Andrew Bertrand is facing sexual assault charges in Minnesota.
From NBC San Diego:
A San Diego priest is facing charges for having sex with a woman in Minnesota while religiously advising her, allegedly paying her to keep quiet about their relationship.
Jacob Andrew Bertrand, 32, a priest at the Diocese of San Diego, was charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the 3rd degree for having sex with the woman in 2010, according to a complaint filed in the County of Dakota in Minnesota.
In Minnesota, it’s a felony for a member of the clergy to have sex with anyone who is “not their spouse, during the course of a meeting in which religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort is given, or while ongoing religious or spiritual advice, aid, or comfort is occurring.”
Now here’s the rub: the alleged victim reported the 2010 assault to church officials in 2012 and 2014. But a spokesperson for the Diocese of San Diego said that Bertrand asked for a leave of absence in 2016 when he learned that criminal charges were going to be filed.
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