During the investigation of sexual misconduct by Father Leo Koppala, 47, Blue Earth, locked files were discovered on his computer. The defendant had been charged with 2nd-degree criminal sexual conduct in relation to an alleged June 7 incident involving an 11-year-old girl.
The Bureau of Criminal Apprehension (BCA) was able to unlock the files on his electronic devices on July 8 so that local police could view them for any other instances of misconduct.
Among the files on his electronic devices, there was a homemade pornographic video found where it was deemed questionable if the young woman involved gave consent.
Also, 10-15 more pornographic videos were found within the locked or password protected files. There were some that involved lesbians and others involved heterosexuals, according to the report in Koppala’s file.
Another 10-20 stored images were found that were of the outside of DVD covers of pornographic videos.
Three “clip art posters” were discovered, as well. Koppala’s file detailed that one was a picture of a woman with a black eye with a caption reading, “Rebellious wife why God created the backhand.”
A second poster was of a fully dressed male and female standing by a watercooler, apparently holding a conversation. The caption was suggesting a sexually explicit act.
The third poster had the caption, “Sometimes you just want to break the law,” and was a picture of three girls in tank tops.
According to Koppala’s case file, there were several instances that people brought forward concerning unwanted physical contact initiated by the defendant.
A change in the way confession was conducted since Koppala’s arrival at St. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Blue Earth was also listed in the case file. It states that confession for children used to be handled where a screen divided the children from the priest, but since his arrival, he changed it so that it was a face-to-face discussion instead.
The file also revealed that several photos and videos were found with the focus on a young, married female parishioner. In one of the photographs, the woman had her hand on the defendant’s knee or thigh.
Assistant county attorney LaMar Piper listed some of these in court on Tuesday, July 23.
An omnibus hearing is not yet scheduled, but will be taking place at a future date.
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