Church Volunteer Pleads Guilty To Sexually Abusing Altar Boy

click to expand

ST. CLOUD, Minn. (AP) -- A volunteer accused of sexually abusing a teenage altar boy at a St. Cloud church has pleaded guilty.

The St. Cloud Times reports that 55-year-old Douglas Kleinsmith, of Sartell, pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of felony criminal sexual conduct and avoided trial.

Prosecutors will ask a Stearns County judge to sentence Kleinsmith to seven years in prison when he's sentenced June 15.

Authorities say Kleinsmith volunteered to train altar boys at St. John Cantius Church, and sexually abused one of the boys he trained both at the church and away from the church.

Kleinsmith was convicted in Idaho in 1991 of sexually abusing a child younger than 16.