A former Catholic priest was convicted Thursday of sexually assaulting a man in Winona County in December 2020.
Former southern Minnesota priest convicted of sexually assaulting adult male
Prosecutor says Ubaldo Roque Huerta exploited the victim's trust.
October 27, 2023 at 9:57PM
Ubaldo Roque Huerta, 51, was found guilty after a three-day trial on fifth-degree criminal sexual assault charges for performing sexual acts on a victim without their consent. Huerta is expected to be sentenced in January.
The former priest was charged last year but failed to show up for court appearances, leading to a warrant for his arrest. Court proceedings picked back up this spring.
In a statement, Winona County Attorney Karin Sonneman said Roque Huerta took advantage of a man he met while serving as a priest, noting the victim trusted Roque Huerta.
"Sex assaults are an often underreported crime, given the sensitive nature of the offense," Sonneman said. "All victims of sexual assault are encouraged to seek medical attention and to make a report to law enforcement."
Roque Huerta was in the process of being laicized — being dismissed from the priesthood — when the assault took place. He was officially laicized in the fall of 2021.
He was suspended from clerical duties in November 2019 over ecclesiastical matters and asked to leave the priesthood, according to officials from the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.
Advocates with the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) have questioned whether the church could have done more to prevent Roque Huerta from abusing someone.
They point to the January 2020 issue of the Courier, the Winona-Rochester diocese's monthly newspaper, which lists Roque Huerta as assigned in December 2019 to live at the Hermits of St. Mary of Carmel monastery in Houston, Minn., about 25 miles south of Winona.
According to court records, Roque Huerta invited the victim — said to be a friend — to drink privately because as a priest, he didn't want other people to see him drinking. The two drank a bottle of tequila at the victim's house in Winona County on Dec. 13, 2020, after which Roque Huerta sexually assaulted the victim several times.
The victim later sought medical treatment, but Roque Huerta denied that any sexual assault had taken place.
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