Last December, Jessica Lussenhop, a reporter with ProPublica, received a tip about child sexual abuse within the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church community in Duluth. Days earlier, Clint Massie, who attended the church, pleaded guilty to four felony counts of sexual conduct with a victim under the age of 13.
Because Massie pleaded guilty, the source told Lussenhop, Massie’s alleged victims wouldn’t be able to testify about his actions and how church leaders handled it.
Lussenhop asked Andy Mannix, a reporter with the Minnesota Star Tribune’s investigative team, to partner on the story. The two reporters and Star Tribune photographer Leila Navidi started investigating Massie and the actions by the church’s leaders.
For months, the journalists combed through police records, including audio and video transcripts of interviews with Massie, church leaders, and some of the women who alleged that they were abused as children. We also interviewed more than a dozen women who alleged that they were sexually abused by church members across the country, obtained internal church records and researched the history of the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, or OALC.
In some instances, we granted anonymity to victims of sexual abuse who spoke to the reporters. News organizations don’t typically name victims of sex crimes because it could discourage survivors from reporting abuse and stigmatize those who shared information with law enforcement.
We made every effort to interview church leaders and Massie. The journalists also attended a church service earlier this year in hopes of interviewing leaders.
Massie didn’t respond to interview requests. Church leaders also declined numerous interview requests. John Hiivala, a spokesperson for the Woodland Park OALC in Duluth, said that the church “has fully complied with the law in the referenced case, and it’s a matter of legal record.” Hiivala declined to comment further.
You can read the full investigation here.
