Stearns County Issues Arrest Warrant For Man Accused of Sexual Assault While Posing as a Monk

(KNSI) – Stearns County officials have issued an arrest warrant for a man accused of sexually assaulting a teen while posing as a monk.

According to the criminal complaint, the now-adult victim contacted the Stearns County Attorney’s Office on July 25th. During interviews with a sheriff’s deputy held at the sexual assault center, he relayed that his family had met the now 88-year-old Anthony Thomas Falco when another family asked them at their church if they could give him a ride to mass on Sundays. Falco was passing himself off as a monk while living in St. Martin. The man, who was a teenager when the abuse happened, was reportedly interested in becoming a priest and therefore spent time with Falco to learn more about religious life. The assaults happened in 2009 and 2010 when Falco earned the boy’s trust over time and asked the teen back to his apartment after a joint prayer session.

Court papers say what started as kissing and hugging at church then escalated to forcing him to perform other sex acts and sexual assault. He said Falco would slap him when he resisted and told him something bad would happen to his family if he told anyone. In one instance, Falco had a camcorder set up inside his apartment, and another person was there. The man said he blocked out what happened next and still cannot recall the details.

Falco has been charged by summons of three counts of criminal sexual conduct with a victim under 15 years old. Each charge carries a potential penalty of 30 years in prison.

According to investigators, a search of Falco’s criminal history shows he had previously been convicted in California for similar crimes nearly 25 years ago. He was also convicted in 2010 in San Mateo County in the Bay Area, just after the alleged assaults took place here. When Falco moved to Minnesota, he failed to register as a sex offender.

His next court date has not yet been scheduled.

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