Diocese: Former Blue Earth priest to be deported
A Blue Earth-area priest will be deported after admitting he fondled a girl while attending dinner at her grandmother's home.
The Diocese of Winona says The Rev. Leo Koppala was taken into custody by the Department of Homeland Security after his sentencing hearing Monday and will be held until his deportation proceedings.
Online court records show Koppala was sentenced to 25 years of supervised probation and ordered to register as a sex offender. He pleaded guilty March 17 to second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a victim under 13.
The Diocese of Winona says the 47-year-old Koppala was assigned in 2009 to the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Blue Earth and to St. Mary's in Winnebago.
It says he will likely be deported to his native India.
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