NEW ULM — A 36-year-old former pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church in Sleepy Eye faces three felony 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct charges filed in Brown County District Court Dec. 9.

Unconditional bail was set at $50,000, or $15,000 with conditions for Nathan Van Alfred Luong of Rochester. A court appearance was set for 11:30 a.m. Dec. 23, 2022.

Luong is accused of having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a teenage female church member from about October 2019 through February 2020. Sleepy Eye Police conducted a seven-month investigation with cooperation from Trinity Lutheran Church and the Southeastern/Southwestern Minnesota Synod ELCA.

According to court documents, Sleepy Eye Police Investigator Shawn Bohnen was informed on May 3, 2022 of a child protection summary involving inappropriate interactions between Luong and the girl. One report came from a witness who called Olmsted County Human Services to report Luong confided to a second witness that he had relations with the girl who was 17 at the time, but is now an adult.

Luong was the girl’s pastor at the time and according to the second witness, it was a sexual relationship. The report added that Luong was now a pastor in Dodge Center, Mn.

According to the first witness, the second witness provided many details including reporting that Luong and the girl had sex at different locations.

Bohnen asked the first witness if he would surrender couch covers on a love seat and sofa in the youth room to Sleepy Eye Police. Couch covers were collected, logged into evidence and sent to the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA).

The second witness told Bohnen the girl would regularly meet with Luong for spiritual guidance. The witness began faith counseling with Luong in February 2020. The second witness said at one of the counseling sessions, Luong told her he was experiencing guilt about his relationship with the girl and that she and he were in a boyfriend/girlfriend relationship.

The second witness said Luong told her in May or June 2020, Luong and the girl exchanged vows and rings in the church.

On May 12, 2022, Bohnen talked with Luong who said nothing sexual occurred with the girl in his office, group room of the house he lived in. Luong said he never claimed to have had sex or any form of sexual activity with the girl. A sample of Luong’s DNA was taken.

On Sept. 6, 2022, a BCA lab report indicated four locations of semen on the sofa cover. The BCA lab removed the four locations from the sofa cover and tested them for DNA. On Oct. 19, 2022, an additional lab report regarding the BCA’s DNA profiling on the semen found on the sofa covers was received.

According to the lab report, the sperm cell fractions contained a single source male DNA profile. Further comparisons can be made to the unidentified major female DNA profile. The male DNA profile was a match to Luong.

On Oct. 21, 2022, the girl told Bohnen she and Luong had sex about 10 times while she was an intern at Trinity Lutheran Church and she would have been 17 or 18 years old at the time.

On Nov. 30, 2022, Bohnen received BCA results on the DNA profiling on non-sperm cell fractions found on the sofa cover. According to the lab report, the major female DNA is a match to the girl.

Sleepy Eye Police encourage anyone else victimized by Luong to contact Bohnen at the Sleepy Eye Police Department or their local police department.