State of Minnesota vs. Christopher Thomas Wenthe

A recent decision out of the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld a controversial clergy sex crime law that had resulted in the conviction of a Catholic priest in St. Paul. Minnesota’s law says that it’s a crime for a member of the clergy to have sex with individuals who are being advised on spiritual matters, something the priest and his attorneys argued amounted to an unconstitutionally excessive entanglement between government and religion.

The case before the Supreme Court involved Christopher Wenthe, former priest at Nativity of Our Lord Catholic Church. Wenthe was convicted back in 2011 of third-degree criminal sexual conduct for engaging in sexual relations with a woman who sought counseling through the church. Though it may come as a surprise to many, there was never any allegation of rape or coercion, nor was the woman underage. The sex between the two parties was entirely consensual and among adults. However, none of this mattered given the nature of Minnesota’s criminal law, which makes any sexual contact between a priest and a parishioner a crime.

Prosecutors say that back in 2003 Wenthe was approached by a woman in need of spiritual counseling. Though things started off professionally, a relationship developed which ended up turning sexual. Though Wenthe never denied that they engaged in an 18-month relationship, he does claim that the relationship began after he had ceased providing spiritual guidance. None of that mattered to the trial court judge who sentenced the priest to a year behind bars.

Wenthe then appealed his case to a state Court of Appeals, which tossed his conviction and awarded him a new trial. The appeals court found that his felony conviction was unconstitutional because it sprung from evidence that by its very nature involved excessive entanglement with religion. The appeals court ultimately held that such religious evidence pervaded the whole prosecution and even caused the jury to view Wenthe’s actions through a religious rather than secular prism.

The Minnesota Supreme Court rejected the decision of the state appeals court in a 4-1 decision. The majority opinion said that the state’s law is not excessively entangled with religious matters but instead broadly targets all those professionals who counsel or treat potentially vulnerable patients. The opinion stated that the intent of the law was to prosecute those who use a position of authority to prey on victims who may be in the midst of an emotional crisis. The majority said that therapists were also included under the law and that the measure does not unfairly single out priests or other members of the clergy. As a result, the majority decided that the law at issue was constitutional.

Source: “Minn. court upholds clergy sex-misconduct law,” by The Associated Press, published at ThePublicOpinion.com.