Stearns County prosecutors plan to seek an aggravated sentence and an additional offense in a case involving a Catholic priest charged with stalking, criminal sexual conduct and violence against a woman.
Joseph Paul Herzing, 61, of Milaca, is charged with one count of stalking, one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of threats of violence, according to court records.
However Assistant Stearns County Attorney Jamie Reinschmidt filed a Dec. 3 motion to offer an additional third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge at trial, saying that Herzing “engaged in numerous instances of sexual penetration and sexual contact from 2014-18 in Hennepin and Stearns counties while being a member of the clergy.” An intent to seek an aggravated sentence was filed on Nov. 26.
Herzing appeared in court virtually on Monday for a bond hearing. Conditions include not leaving the state nor engaging in pastoral duties. A future court date has not been set.
Herzing is accused of abuse that occurred while providing spiritual advice, aid and comfort while serving as a priest in Little Falls and St. Cloud between May 2018 and October 2022. According to the criminal complaint, there were multiple violent interactions in 2022, including where Herzing choked, physically assaulted and threatened to kill the victim.
The criminal complaint also said that Herzing took the woman to an event in Milaca on his motorcycle in August 2022 and threatened to kill them both by crashing into a tree. The woman told investigators Herzing had made similar threats in the past.
He was ordained at St. Mary’s Cathedral in St. Cloud in 1999, and later was appointed as pastor of Christ the King in Browerville; St. Joseph in Clarissa; St. Joseph in Grey Eagle; St. Mary of Mount Carmel in Long Prairie, and St. John the Baptist in Swanville in June 2024, according to the Diocese of St. Cloud. Herzing was put on leave following the filing of charges in Stearns County District Court, St. Cloud Bishop Patrick Neary said in a Nov. 27 statement.
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