Another St. Cloud-area priest charged with abuse while serving as a ‘spiritual adviser’

ST CLOUD Minn A Catholic priest has been charged with stalking criminal sexual conduct and violence against a woman whom he was spiritually advising This is the second St Cloud-area priest accused of inappropriate conduct in the past two months The Stearns County Attorney s Office filed charges on Wednesday against Joseph Paul Herzing of Milaca for one count each of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and stalking and three counts of threats of violence in connection with the abuse and intimidation The abuse occurred between May and October according to the criminal complaint During the time of the incidents Herzing served as a priest in Little Falls and St Cloud according to law enforcement He was ordained at St Mary s Cathedral in St Cloud in and later was appointed as pastor of Christ the King in Browerville St Joseph in Clarissa St Joseph in Grey Eagle St Mary of Mount Carmel in Long Prairie and St John the Baptist in Swanville in June according to the Diocese of St Cloud Herzing was right now put on leave following the charges being filed in Stearns County St Cloud Bishop Patrick Neary commented in a report dated last Thursday St Cloud police began probing Herzing in August following a summary from a woman who declared she received spiritual advice aid and comfort in the form of confession from Herzing while in Little Falls in Herzing then moved to a church in St Cloud and began regularly advising the victim there through October Church leadership received multiple reports from people saying they observed conduct indicative of an inappropriate intimate relationship between Herzing and the woman such as the priest being at her residence late at night and early in the morning When diocesan leadership became aware of the situation in there was no indication of physical or sexual misconduct Neary stated Then-Bishop Donald Kettler who retired in December met with Herzing and promptly placed him on administrative leave to undergo a comprehensive professional evaluation according to the diocese He entered and completed a residential therapy venture for exhibiting inappropriate boundaries with the woman investigators declared in the complaint Neary returned Herzing to current ministry in June with limited responsibility in Cold Spring Rockville Richmond and Jacobs Prairie while continuing restoration The bishop revealed that restrictions and monitoring on Herzing were put in place Herzing and the woman had multiple violent interactions in including several death threats according to the criminal complaint In February Herzing assaulted the victim including choking and threatening to kill her in a residence in St Cloud Later in May she walked from her St Cloud residence to a river while having suicidal thoughts After convincing her to return home Herzing declared he should have just let the woman kill herself He later physically assaulted her after she saw Herzing receive a text she thought was from someone he was in an intimate relationship with Once again he threatened to kill her Herzing took the woman to an event in Milaca on his motorcycle in August and threatened to kill them both by crashing into a tree The woman advised investigators Herzing had made similar threats in July which resulted in the victim suffering minor scrapes after dismounting at a stoplight Investigators used witness statements texts and police reports to corroborate the woman s message Reports established that Herzing admitted to kissing the victim on two occasions but denied having a spiritual guidance with her My commitment is to ensure that our response is clear and rooted in care for all those affected Neary declared We will continue to cooperate fully with agents and accompany our communities with honesty and compassion Neary added that he encourages all casualties of abuse to come forward to civil bureaucrats or diocesan victim advocates Herzing is scheduled to make his first appearance in Stearns County District Court on Dec Pattern of priest misconduct In October another Catholic priest with the St Cloud diocese was accused of sexual misconduct with a woman while being her spiritual adviser Aaron John Kuhn of Wadena was charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct in Stearns County court A woman reported law enforcement she had sexual contact with Kuhn between September and October while he was providing her with spiritual direction according to the Stearns County Attorney s Office She noted Kuhn used his role as a spiritual adviser to manipulate and pressure her into engaging in sexual acts According to court records Kuhn is scheduled to appear in court on Jan