Clint Massie — Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, Minnesota
A lay preacher in a tight-knit Minnesota church community who abused girls over some 20 years. Leaders held 'forgiveness sessions' instead of reporting him, as state law required. He pleaded guilty in 2024 and was sentenced to 7.5 years.
Mainline Protestant Pleaded guilty (2024)
- Person
- Clint Massie
- Role
- Lay preacher / community member
- Institution
- Old Apostolic Lutheran Church, Duluth, Minnesota area
- Location
- Minnesota (and a second state)
- Status
- Pleaded guilty (December 2024)
- Sentence
- 7½ years (March 2025)
Case in brief
Tier 1 · Court-proven
Clint Massie was a lay preacher and community member in the Old Apostolic Lutheran Church around Duluth, Minnesota. A Minnesota Star Tribune/ProPublica investigation found he abused girls in the tight-knit community over roughly 20 years in two states, sometimes in church pews; mothers warned their daughters to stay away from him. Massie pleaded guilty in December 2024 to four counts of felony criminal sexual conduct with victims under 13 and was sentenced in March 2025 to 7½ years. Church officials were not charged; the prosecutor said at sentencing they had “enabled something awful.”
The institution
The Old Apostolic Lutheran Church leadership. Adult survivors confronted preachers, including the congregation’s leader. Per the investigation: leaders told Massie to stay away from children and sent him to a sex-offender therapist but never reported him to police, as Minnesota law required — instead holding “forgiveness sessions” in which victims, including a first-grader, were brought to forgive him and hug him, after which the abuse continued. This is the pattern’s internal-handling behavior in its purest documented form: forgiveness administered to the victims, reporting owed to no one.
The record
Tier 1 · Court-proven
| Item | Record |
|---|---|
| Pattern (per investigation) | Abuse over ~20 years, two states; leaders informed; therapist referral; no police report despite legal duty |
| Institutional practice | “Forgiveness sessions” with child victims; abuse continued afterward |
| Plea (December 2024) | Guilty — four counts of felony criminal sexual conduct, victims under 13 |
| Sentence (March 2025) | 7½ years |
| Officials | Not charged; prosecutor’s statement at sentencing recorded above |
Status
Pleaded guilty and sentenced (2025). The institutional findings rest on the Star Tribune/ProPublica investigation; no official was charged.
Records requested & responses
This archive has not filed records requests in this case. The file rests on the published sources below and will be updated if court or institutional records are obtained, or if that changes.
Sources
- Minnesota Star Tribune / ProPublica, “Forgive and forget: inside the Minnesota church that protected a serial child abuser” (2025), via BishopAccountability.org: bishop-accountability.org
- Religion Unplugged, coverage of the same investigation (November 21, 2025): religionunplugged.com
Filed October 18, 2026, from the published sources below. Minor victims are never named or identified in this file.