A pastor in Minnesota has been accused of having sex with a teenage girl who sought his spiritual guidance.

Nathan Van Alfred Luong, 36, of the city of Rochester, has been charged with criminal sexual conduct after he allegedly had sex with a teenage girl who was a member of his Trinity Lutheran Church in the city of Sleepy Eye, in southern Minnesota.
The abuse is said to have taken place between October 2019 and February 2020, when the victim was 17 and 18 years old.
Investigators received two tips in May 2022, with one of the two people who reported Luong to the police alleging that Luong had admitted to them that he had had sex with the teenage girl.

After performing DNA testing, having seized the suspect’s sofa, they found traces of sperm matching Luong and DNA matching the teenager’s DNA profile, according to the police.
They reportedly said that they then established that the pastor had sexual intercourse with the teenager, who has not been named.
Luong has been booked into the Brown County Jail and is next set to appear before a judge on 23rd December.

The age of consent under Minnesota law is typically 16 years old, but this can increase to 18 years old under special circumstances, such as if one of the two people is in a position of authority over the other person.