Sex Assault Charges Filed against Former Pastor, Truck Driver

By Anne Jungen
Lacrosse Tribune
February 7, 2012

http://lacrossetribune.com/news/local/sex-assault-charges-filed-against-former-pastor-truck-driver/article_a4fcf280-5143-11e1-8f44-001871e3ce6c.html

Criminal charges filed Monday accuse a former minister and truck driver of molesting a boy in 2008.

The boy said he was 13 when 64-year-old Michael Delaney of Tomah assaulted him in his semi-truck, according to the complaint filed in Monroe County Circuit Court. Eventually the assaults escalated to forced oral sex, the teen said.

Delaney threatened to tell people the teen was gay if he spoke out about the abuse. He also forced the teen to watch pornographic movies, according to the complaint.

The victim came forward in November. Police arrested Delaney on Jan. 27.

Delaney has since retired from his position at the Church of God of Prophecy in Necedah, Wis. The church referred questions to the Great Lakes Region office, where a woman who answered the phone said the Necedah location is closed but refused to comment further on the case and would not give her name.

Prosecutors charged Delaney with child enticement and sexual assault with a child under 16 years of age as a persistent repeater. He returns to court for a preliminary hearing at a later date.

Delaney served prison time after he was convicted in 1983 of two counts of sexual abuse of a child in Arizona.

Contact: ajungen@lacrossetribune.com