IDAHO
National Catholic Reporter
Dan Morris-Young | Jul. 19, 2017
The prosecution of an Idaho diocesan priest accused of sexually exploiting a U.S. airman from Mountain Home Air Force Base a year ago ended in a mistrial July 7.
Elmore County District Court Judge Jonathan Medema “declared a mistrial because the jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision,” apparently in part because of resistance or advance bias on the part of one juror, reported the Mountain Home News.
A new trial for Fr. Victor Jagerstatter, 40, has been scheduled for March 7, 2018.
While administrator of Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Mountain Home, Idaho, Jagerstatter was charged with raping the airman early in the morning of July 9, 2016, while the man was unconscious in a room allegedly rented from the priest.
During the proceedings, according to the Mountain Home News, Elmore County deputy prosecuting attorney Jessica Kuehn entered evidence gathered by the Mountain Home Air Force Base’s Office of Special Investigations and Sexual Assault Response coordinator.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.