DULUTH (MN)
Duluth News Tribune [Duluth MN]
March 25, 2025
By Tom Olsen
Court records show he admitted to assaulting two 13-year-old girls while serving as a youth pastor in the Twin Cities in 2001.
DULUTH — The co-founder and lead pastor of a church resigned this week after it was recently revealed he had sexually abused two girls more than 20 years ago.
Ronald Allen, 59, stepped down from his position at Revive City Church of Duluth amid protests over his convictions for the assaults, which occurred while he was a youth pastor at another church in the Twin Cities.
“This decision has not come easily, but it is one that I believe is necessary for our personal journey,” Allen wrote in a social media post. “I recognize that this news may bring great pain to many, and perhaps relief to others. Regardless, I ask for your understanding and support as I embark on this new chapter.”
Court records show Allen pleaded guilty to two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Hennepin County in 2001. Documents, first reported by Fox 21 late last week, indicate he assaulted two 13-year-olds at his then-home in Minnetonka.
A message is written in sidewalk chalk outside Revive City Church of Duluth.
Barrett Chase / Duluth Media Group
According to the complaint, Allen was the youth pastor for one of the victims up until the summer of 2000. She told authorities they began a “relationship” that August — the girl was well below the age of consent — and that it progressed to repeated sexual contact, with at least two occasions involving penetration in February 2001.
The other victim was her friend, who had accompanied her to babysit at Allen’s house. That girl told police that the pastor kissed and touched her sexually on one visit in January 2001, according to the court filings.
Allen admitted to the allegations and his knowledge of the girls’ ages, prosecutors wrote. He was sentenced in October 2001 to 18 months in prison, followed by five years of conditional release. He also was required to register as a predatory offender for five years.
The church, 1830 E. First St., had been the site of numerous protests in recent days, and numerous residents had also taken to social media demanding Allen’s resignation.
He initially refused, citing “malicious actions” that he said had been taken against him and his family and a “narrative that seeks to silence us” — actions that he said go beyond the report of his prior convictions.
Allen stated in a Facebook post late last week that his ordination had been suspended and he invited the public to an “open forum” Sunday, saying the protests were directed not at him but the entire church, and encouraging members to engage with protesters.
The announcement of his resignation came late Monday night. By Tuesday afternoon, both his personal Facebook account and the church’s page had been taken down.
Revive City, which Allen founded alongside his wife, October Allen, is a nondenominational church with a particular focus on addiction recovery. In addition to Sunday and Wednesday services, it offered a Monday night “Celebrate Recovery” program, as well as a twice-monthly food distribution event.
Messages left at the church Tuesday were not immediately returned.
| To get help If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, call 911. First Witness Child Advocacy Center: 218-727-8353, firstwitness.org/contact-us National Sexual Assault Hotline: 24/7 hotline: 800-656-4673 Center Against Sexual and Domestic Abuse (CASDA): serves Duluth, Superior and Ashland, Bayfield and Douglas counties; 24/7 hotline 800-649-2921; submit a help request at casda.org/get-help Program for Aid to Victims of Sexual Assault (PAVSA): serves southern St. Louis County; 24/7 hotline 218-726-1931 Sexual Assault Program of Northern St. Louis County: serves northern St. Louis County; 218-749-4725; leave a message and an advocate will be contacted 24/7 Family Pathways: serves Carlton and Pine counties; 24/7 hotline 800-338-7233 Support Within Reach: serves Aitkin and Itasca counties; hotline 866-747-5008 North Shore Horizons: serves Lake County; 24/7 hotline 218-834-5924 Violence Prevention Center: serves Cook County; 24/7 hotline 218-387-1237 Friends Against Abuse: serves Koochiching County; 24/7 hotline 888-344-3264 Fond du Lac Reservation: 24/7 hotline 218-348-1817 Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa: Grand Portage Human Services 218-475-2453 Bois Forte Tribal Government–Victim Services Program: emergency cell 218-248-0067 |
By Tom Olsen
Tom Olsen covers crime and courts and the 8th Congressional District for the Duluth News Tribune since 2013. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota Duluth and a lifelong resident of the city. Readers can contact Olsen at 218-723-5333 or tolsen@duluthnews.com.