JAMESTOWN, N.D. – A former Jamestown priest will avoid jail if he completes 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to sexual assault. The plea deal for Neil Pfeifer included a charge of sexual exploitation by a therapist being dismissed.
A trial on the charges was supposed to start on Thursday in Jamestown.
Pfeifer was sentenced to 360 days in jail but it was all suspended except for 10 days and credit for one day served. The terms of the plea mean he will have to serve nine days in jail if community service isn’t completed by September 15.
Pfeifer was facing similar charges in Logan County, but that case was dismissed in April. The judge ruled that the prosecution didn’t meet its burden of probable cause for the case to proceed.
The Fargo Diocese in a statement said the Diocese continues to investigate this matter and that Pfeifer’s removal from the ministry continues. The Diocese also said continues to pursue this matter under church law.
Pfeifer had served as a priest in Jamestown, Buchanan, and Windsor.
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