Updated: 07/30/2009 5:02 PM KSTP.com | 
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By: Becky Nahm & Nicole Muehlhausen
Ex-Pastor, St. Cloud Chaplain Arrested for Sex Assault
A retired pastor who volunteered as a chaplain for the St. Cloud Police Department is accused of criminal sexual conduct.
Arthur James Ree, 82, was arrested in the 1200 block of Wildwood Road on Wednesday, and booked into the Stearns County Jail.
Ree told officers about a number of sexual incidents involving a girl, which began in 2000 and lasted for 18 months, according to police.
Ree retired as a pastor of the Southwestern Minnesota Synod Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in Redwood Falls in 1997. He served as a volunteer chaplain for the St. Cloud Police Department from 1997 to 2005.
"Charges of this nature are very serious, and they are even more disturbing when they involve the life of the church. The Southwestern Minnesota Synod does not tolerate sexual exploitation or abuse in any way. Our synod and its congregations are, and should remain always, safe places for all people," the church said in a written statement.
Ree is in custody awaiting formal charges.
