Our investigation into a little-known church community in northeastern Minnesota began with an issue that has become depressingly familiar: child sexual abuse.
ProPublica and the Minnesota Star Tribune have discovered that some members of Duluth’s Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community allowed Clint Massey to plead guilty to sexually abusing young girls. Massey is currently being held in a prison in Faribault, Minnesota.
The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, which has no affiliation with the mainline Lutheran denomination and is known as OALC, is a closed community with many Old World traditions. Although there are no official numbers, one academic study estimated that as of 2016 there were 31,000 members worldwide, most of them in the United States.
We examined hundreds of pages of criminal records, conducted more than a dozen interviews with alleged victims across the country, reviewed video and audio of police interviews with Massey, victims and church leaders, and attended services at Old Apostolic Lutheran Church in Duluth.
OALC preacher Darryl Bruckelmeyer declined to comment for this article or respond to a detailed list of questions. However, in a 2023 interview with St. Louis County detectives, he admitted that he knew about Massey’s sexual abuse. He said at the time that it was the victim’s responsibility to report crimes to police, a clear misreading of the law against mandated reporters – doctors, teachers and others who are required to report crimes against children.
“We’re not protecting either of them,” Brückelmeier said of sexual abusers and their victims.
You can read the full research here, but here are five takeaways from our report.
Church leaders knew about the abuse. Even though the leaders of Mr. Brückelmeyer’s church knew that he had been sexually abusing girls for years, they did not report him to the police, and Brückelmeyer was told by police that it was his duty to do so. The victims said their mothers warned their children to stay away from Massey. Church leaders also sent Massey to a therapist who specializes in treating sex offenders. In December 2024, Massey pleaded guilty to four felonies related to sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 13. In March, a judge sentenced him to seven and a half years in prison.
Victims were told to forgive and forget. Church leaders held a meeting to forgive the man who sexually abused children and told them to forget the abuse. If they spoke it, the guilt would be theirs. The meeting, which the victim told police and which our reporting confirmed, ended with church leaders allowing Massey to hug the victim. The church’s internal document also outlines guidelines for dealing with abuse and suggests bringing both parties together for discussion if necessary.
Missed Opportunity to Intervene: Prosecutors had at least one opportunity to intervene, hoping that educating church leaders about their obligations would encourage them to cooperate with authorities. Our report found that church leaders did not report what they learned about Massey, even though state law requires clergy and others to share information with law enforcement. According to a law enforcement memo, Brückelmeyer told investigators that he encouraged abuse victims to go to the police, but that he “believed it was the right thing to do.” [victims] To do that. ”
John Hiibala, a spokesman for Woodland Park Old Apostolic Lutheran Church in Duluth, said the church “is in full compliance with the law in the lawsuits referred to and this is a matter of legal record.”
Kimberly Rowe, the church’s attorney and crisis manager, said there may not be a legal obligation to report child sexual abuse because the church’s preachers are unpaid. Asked if he believed the preachers were required reporters under Minnesota law, Lowe would only say that the language of the law was unclear.
A small but fast-growing church: OALC is a conservative Christian revival movement that came to the United States with settlers from Norway, Finland, and Sweden in the 19th century. It has no affiliation with the mainline Lutheran denomination. Only men are in leadership positions. The church is growing rapidly, and its focus on large families has sparked a boom in Washington state, Duluth and other areas. Like Jesus, our members strive to live simple and simple lives. According to former members, this is why they don’t dance, listen to music or watch movies. At OALC, they said that forgiveness is one of the most important acts a person can do.
Victims file suit: Since Massey’s ruling, two alleged victims have filed suit against Massey, their church in South Dakota, and OALC. They hired the same lawyer who represented some of the victims in the Jeffrey Epstein case.
In a letter submitted to the court from prison, Massey denied the allegations of abuse in the lawsuit. He did not respond to an interview request. “While OALC America is considerate and sympathetic to Plaintiffs regarding their alleged abuses by Massey, such sympathy does not take away the plain fact that this court does not have personal jurisdiction over OALC America,” OALC wrote in its motion to dismiss both lawsuits.
