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	Attorney Says Priest Sex Case Should Be Thrown out Based on Legal Conflict By Emily Gurnon Pioneer Press June 20, 2011 http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_18319075?nclick_check=1 The case of a former St. Paul priest charged with criminal sexual conduct for having an affair with a Nativity of Our Lord parishioner should be thrown out, the priest's attorney argued in court Monday. The Rev. Christopher Wenthe took the woman's confession, said attorney Paul Engh, and the state alleges in part that what the woman told Wenthe during those sessions led Wenthe to take advantage of her. But priests cannot, by church law, disclose anything about what happens in the confessional - so Wenthe has no way of defending himself in court, Engh argued. "It is absolutely forbidden for a priest to betray a penitent," Engh said. At the same time, he argued, it's an absolute right in the criminal justice system for Wenthe to testify in his own defense. The question then becomes, is the clergy sex law constitutional? Engh said during a hearing before Judge Margaret Marrinan in Ramsey County District Court. It is against Minnesota law for priests or ministers to have sex with parishioners if they do so "during a period of time in which the complainant was meeting on an ongoing basis with the actor to seek or receive religious or spiritual advice, aid or comfort in private," the law says. Engh argued that the statute becomes fatally entangled with church doctrine in cases such as Wenthe's. Wenthe, 46, of Delano was charged Feb. 17 with third-degree criminal sexual conduct, a felony. He has pleaded not guilty. In a criminal complaint, the prosecution alleges the woman had a relationship with Wenthe from 2003 to 2005. She was in her early 20s at the time. She told police Wenthe had counseled her about problems associated with her eating disorders and sexual abuse she had suffered as a child, the complaint said. The complaint also alleges: - The woman said she saw him for confession at least four times; Wenthe disputes that there were that many sessions. - The meetings between the woman and Wenthe, including some in Wenthe's bedroom in the rectory of the Macalester-Groveland church, became sexual. During the first, Wenthe lay on top of her and asked her to perform oral sex, she said. "I remember pleading with him that we should stop," she told police. As the relationship went on, with sexual encounters every two weeks, her eating disorders worsened, she said. At the same time, she continued to attend Mass and receive communion from Wenthe. In response to Monday's arguments by Wenthe's attorney, the state's attorneys said that if the law could not proscribe behavior within the confessional, then a priest could fondle, rape or even kill a penitent without legal ramifications. Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Karen Kugler added that the statute "criminalizes exploitive, abusive behavior" committed by all clergy, not just priests. She said the defense is "manufacturing" the argument about the entanglement of church and state to protect Wenthe from criminal liability. Marrinan told the attorneys she would rule later on whether to grant the defense request for a dismissal. She did rule that she would review some of the woman's counseling records, as the defense had requested, and decide whether they would be material to the case. In 2006, after the incident with the woman, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis appointed Wenthe parochial vicar of the St. Michael/St. Mary parish in Stillwater. He was then sent to be pastor of the Delano Catholic Community. Archdiocese spokesman Dennis McGrath said Monday that although Wenthe remains a priest, he does not have a current assignment. Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Contact: egurnon@pioneerpress.com
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