CHARGES: Elderly Sex Offender Claimed to be Monk, Raped Teen Boy

Aug 22

An 88-year-old man is facing charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a teenage boy multiple times, convincing church families and a small Minnesota community that he was a Catholic monk.

Court records show Anthony Thomas Falco has been charged with three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for assaults that investigators say took place between July 2009 and June 2010 in St. Martin, Minn.

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Each count carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $40,000 fine.

The case began when the victim, now an adult, contacted the Stearns County Attorney’s Office on July 25 and disclosed he had been abused as a teenager. He told a deputy at the Sexual Assault Center in St. Cloud that Falco began targeting him when he was 13 and 14 years old.

The victim’s family first encountered Falco after being asked by another family to help drive him to Sunday Mass. Falco told people he was a monk, and the boy, who was interested in becoming a priest, began spending more time with him.

The victim said Falco’s behavior escalated from hugging and kissing at church to repeated sexual assaults inside Falco’s apartment on the 100 block of Main Street. He told investigators that Falco locked the door during the first incident, removed his religious clothing, exposed himself and forced the boy to undress before engaging in sexual acts while telling him it was “for him.”

In another incident, Falco allegedly brought the boy back to the apartment and told him, “I did something for you, now you do something for me,” before forcing oral sex. The victim reported that Falco slapped him when he resisted and threatened that something bad would happen to his family if he told anyone.

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The victim described a third assault in which Falco held down his hands and raped him before taking him back to church. He also recalled arriving at Falco’s apartment on another occasion to find a camcorder set up near the bed and a second man present. He told investigators he felt numb and did not remember what happened after that.

Investigators confirmed through lease records that Falco lived at the Main Street apartment during the period the victim described. Court filings note that Falco is a registered predatory offender with prior convictions in other states for posing as a monk and sexually abusing boys.

Falco was previously convicted of molesting two boys in California nearly 25 years ago during a similar scheme where he posed as a Franciscan monk. He was sent to prison and released in 2003. In 2010, he was arrested again in California on charges for committing lewd or lascivious acts on a child younger than 14 and a charge of failing to register as a sex offender.

At some point, Falco moved to Minnesota and failed to register as a sex offender. Stearns County court records show he has an active warrant from a 2009 case related to that offense.

Prosecutors say his current location is unknown. A lease agreement shows he lived at an apartment in St. Martin until June 30, 2010. Prosecutors requested a warrant for his arrest, saying they do not believe he will appear in court if only summoned.

Falco was ultimately charged by summons, though an initial court date has not yet been scheduled. A booking photo is not yet available.

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