Fr. Ryan A. McCandless
Ordained in 2017. Assigned parishes in Hays, Manhattan, Mankato, Concordia, and Ebson. Pastored parishes in Belleville, Munden, and Cuba. Arrested 7/22/2026, charged with sexually abusing a 6-year-old child in Belleville, between 7/2025 and 9/2025. In 9/2026 a woman alleged in a lawsuit that McCandless sexually harrassed and pressured her into sexual activity. She was a parishioner and had gone to McCandless for spiritual guidance. The misconduct allegedly occurred 3/2024 through 10/2024. She said she reported his behavior to Church officials and was met with a “pattern of concealment and inaction.”
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