Former Eagan pastor gets jail time for fondling college-aged parishioner
Bruce Douglas Konold’s victim told the court Friday that pastors are “supposed to be people you can trust.”
But the 63-year-old Konold “betrayed me, betrayed me at my most vulnerable moments and in the most humiliating ways,” the college-aged woman said.
“Your Honor, I was shamelessly exploited by a man who took pleasure in abusing his position as a pastor to find sexual satisfaction through my vulnerability,” she said. “My suffering was a means to his end.”
Bruce Douglas Konold (Courtesy of Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)
Dakota County District Judge Ann Offermann on Friday sentenced Konold to 90 days in jail. The judge stayed the imposition of a two-year prison sentence, making it possible for Konold’s conviction to be reduced to a misdemeanor after 10 years of supervised probation.
A jury in September found Konold guilty of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2021 involving the former parishioner, finding the relationship took place while he was giving her ongoing religious advice, which is a felony in Minnesota. They were hung on a more serious third-degree charge against Konold and acquitted him of two similar charges involving a second parishioner.
Konold was the lead pastor at Eagan Hills Church for 25 years until he resigned in February 2022, shortly after his then-wife learned of his sexual relations with the woman. She ended their 32-year marriage soon after charges were filed.
The church is affiliated with the evangelical Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Sought to be a father figure
According to the criminal complaint, the victim began attending the church in January 2021. She said the next month Konold told her she needed a father figure and began providing her with spiritual counseling and guidance on a regular basis.
The then-20-year-old woman told police in March 2022 that Konold fondled her at his home in 2021 and it led to numerous sexual encounters at his home, the church, hotels and in his vehicle.
During a break from college, she said Konold suggested she stay at his home. One day, Konold gave her several alcoholic drinks and she felt foggy and had difficulty walking. She said he then touched her genitals above her clothing and tried to remove her clothes several times before she pushed him away.
Konold began sending the woman sexual messages regularly and suggested she move into his home at the end of her school year. He got her a cleaning job at the church.
Sexual acts began in May 2021, she said, and continued until the end of the year. She described to police how she had “conflicting emotions about the incidents, explaining that there were certain incidents that didn’t feel consensual,” the complaint read.
She said Konold’s wife approached her in December 2021 and told her “to never show her face again at the church and to disappear completely,” according to the complaint.
Police in March 2022 also spoke with a 30-year-old woman who said she and her husband attended Konold’s church for about 10 years and that in 2020 he offered her a personal assistant job at the church.
She said Konold first fondled her at his home in June 2020 and she agreed to have sex with him at a hotel the following November after he promised to leave her alone afterward. She said it later led to numerous sexual encounters, which occurred at his home, her home, a hotel and in his vehicle in places near the church and Lebanon Hills Regional Park.
The complaint alleged that during the time of the sexual acts, the woman continued to regularly meet with Konold for one-on-one spiritual counseling and guidance.
In a March 2022 interview with police, Konold said he had sexual relations with the woman about 15 times. He expressed concerns about the church supporting her mission work, saying that “it was not right that they continue to support an adulteress,” the complaint read. He “quoted a Bible verse regarding adulterous women being ‘stoned.’”
Konold described his relationship with the 20-year-old woman as “another adulterous relationship,” the complaint said.
Konold told police the woman thought of him as a father figure and “explained that his conversations are spiritual given that he is considered one of the foremost experts in world religions,” according to the complaint.
‘Filled with regret’
Konold’s attorney, Kevin Devore, noted Friday in court that the factual basis of the jury’s conviction was that his client touched the victim on the groin over her clothing. “There was additional attempts to engage in some sort of sexual activity, but those were rejected by the victim and then, ultimately, Mr. Konold let it be and walked away,” Devore said.
Konold told the court he respects the jury’s decision “and I fully understand that I broke the law. I get it. I betrayed the trust of those I was supposed to help and protect. … I am so sorry for those whom I have hurt. It should have never happened.”
Konold said he is “filled with regret and pain and shame,” and added: “My life is currently defined by my sin in a short period of time.”
Offermann told Konold that she read the presentencing investigation and psychological evaluation more than once and found “your focus has been … the consequences that you’re suffering.”
“And just like the statement you made here today … me, me, me, instead of those that were impacted,” she said.
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Former Eagan pastor gets jail time for fondling college-aged parishioner
Bruce Douglas Konold’s victim told the court Friday that pastors are “supposed to be people you can trust.”
But the 63-year-old Konold “betrayed me, betrayed me at my most vulnerable moments and in the most humiliating ways,” the college-aged woman said.
“Your Honor, I was shamelessly exploited by a man who took pleasure in abusing his position as a pastor to find sexual satisfaction through my vulnerability,” she said. “My suffering was a means to his end.”
Bruce Douglas Konold (Courtesy of Dakota County Sheriff’s Office)
Dakota County District Judge Ann Offermann on Friday sentenced Konold to 90 days in jail. The judge stayed the imposition of a two-year prison sentence, making it possible for Konold’s conviction to be reduced to a misdemeanor after 10 years of supervised probation.
A jury in September found Konold guilty of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in 2021 involving the former parishioner, finding the relationship took place while he was giving her ongoing religious advice, which is a felony in Minnesota. They were hung on a more serious third-degree charge against Konold and acquitted him of two similar charges involving a second parishioner.
Konold was the lead pastor at Eagan Hills Church for 25 years until he resigned in February 2022, shortly after his then-wife learned of his sexual relations with the woman. She ended their 32-year marriage soon after charges were filed.
The church is affiliated with the evangelical Christian and Missionary Alliance.
Sought to be a father figure
According to the criminal complaint, the victim began attending the church in January 2021. She said the next month Konold told her she needed a father figure and began providing her with spiritual counseling and guidance on a regular basis.
The then-20-year-old woman told police in March 2022 that Konold fondled her at his home in 2021 and it led to numerous sexual encounters at his home, the church, hotels and in his vehicle.
During a break from college, she said Konold suggested she stay at his home. One day, Konold gave her several alcoholic drinks and she felt foggy and had difficulty walking. She said he then touched her genitals above her clothing and tried to remove her clothes several times before she pushed him away.
Konold began sending the woman sexual messages regularly and suggested she move into his home at the end of her school year. He got her a cleaning job at the church.
Sexual acts began in May 2021, she said, and continued until the end of the year. She described to police how she had “conflicting emotions about the incidents, explaining that there were certain incidents that didn’t feel consensual,” the complaint read.
She said Konold’s wife approached her in December 2021 and told her “to never show her face again at the church and to disappear completely,” according to the complaint.
Police in March 2022 also spoke with a 30-year-old woman who said she and her husband attended Konold’s church for about 10 years and that in 2020 he offered her a personal assistant job at the church.
She said Konold first fondled her at his home in June 2020 and she agreed to have sex with him at a hotel the following November after he promised to leave her alone afterward. She said it later led to numerous sexual encounters, which occurred at his home, her home, a hotel and in his vehicle in places near the church and Lebanon Hills Regional Park.
The complaint alleged that during the time of the sexual acts, the woman continued to regularly meet with Konold for one-on-one spiritual counseling and guidance.
In a March 2022 interview with police, Konold said he had sexual relations with the woman about 15 times. He expressed concerns about the church supporting her mission work, saying that “it was not right that they continue to support an adulteress,” the complaint read. He “quoted a Bible verse regarding adulterous women being ‘stoned.’”
Konold described his relationship with the 20-year-old woman as “another adulterous relationship,” the complaint said.
Konold told police the woman thought of him as a father figure and “explained that his conversations are spiritual given that he is considered one of the foremost experts in world religions,” according to the complaint.
‘Filled with regret’
Konold’s attorney, Kevin Devore, noted Friday in court that the factual basis of the jury’s conviction was that his client touched the victim on the groin over her clothing. “There was additional attempts to engage in some sort of sexual activity, but those were rejected by the victim and then, ultimately, Mr. Konold let it be and walked away,” Devore said.
Konold told the court he respects the jury’s decision “and I fully understand that I broke the law. I get it. I betrayed the trust of those I was supposed to help and protect. … I am so sorry for those whom I have hurt. It should have never happened.”
Konold said he is “filled with regret and pain and shame,” and added: “My life is currently defined by my sin in a short period of time.”
Offermann told Konold that she read the presentencing investigation and psychological evaluation more than once and found “your focus has been … the consequences that you’re suffering.”
“And just like the statement you made here today … me, me, me, instead of those that were impacted,” she said.
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15-year-old arrested on suspicion of murder in North End St. Paul shooting
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