Youth pastor arrested for sexual assault of 15 year old girl….
June 16, 2011 – Charges were filed Thursday against a Ham Lake Lutheran church youth director accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in the summer and fall of 2010. The victim said the assaults took place at the church, on church retreats and at a youth camp, among other places.
Damian Burkhalter, 47, of Blaine, Minn., is the youth director at Glen Cary Lutheran Church in Ham Lake. He was arrested Tuesday in connection with the allegations, which surfaced during a therapy session.