MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS - A former Catholic priest was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison for sexual misconduct with female parishioners.
John Joseph Bussmann was sentenced Thursday in Hennepin County District Court. Following his release from prison, he must register as a sex offender and he will be on probation for 10 years.
In July, Bussmann, 51, of St. Paul, was convicted of two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for having sex with two women on multiple occasions from September 2002 to March 2003.
Hennepin County Attorney Amy Klobuchar said consent was not a legal defense because Bussmann had been counseling the women.
In May, he was also convicted of two felony counts of theft, one count of fifth-degree sexual misconduct and one count of indecent exposure. Those offenses all involved the same female church employee.