A former Good Shepherd associate pastor has pleaded not guilty at his arraignment to charges of first-degree sexual abuse during the 1980s.
Rev. Joseph N. Muench, 54, of Lexington, is accused of sexually abusing two men in separate incidents between 1980 and 1985.
The victims were in their late teens and early 20s at the time of the incidents, and their identities won’t be released, Commonwealth’s Attorney Larry Cleveland said.
Muench (pronounced “minch”) was indicted Oct. 21 and arraigned Oct. 29 in Franklin Circuit Court. He was originally scheduled for arraignment on Nov. 13, but Cleveland said he changed the date to avoid a “media circus.”
Criminal charges against Muench came after Bishop Ronald W. Gainer, of the Lexington Diocese, suspended him July 13. Three men alleged Muench sexually assaulted them while he was an associate pastor at Good Shepherd between 1984 and 1986.
Muench was the pastor at Mary Queen of the Holy Rosary in Lexington at the time on his suspension.
The lawyer representing the three men in the original allegations, B. Keith Saksefski, of Louisville, said in a letter to the diocese that the sexual abuses happened while Muench was an associate pastor at Good Shepherd.
Frequent calls to Saksefski weren’t returned. Only two of his clients are involved in the criminal case against Muench.
Cleveland became aware of the case after the diocese’s investigation found evidence of sexual misconduct, he said. The diocese forwarded its information to Cleveland.
“We’ve been interviewing people, reviewing transcripts of other interviews conducted by other people and meeting with the city police and determining how best to proceed,” Cleveland told The State Journal after Muench’s indictment Oct. 21.
Arraignments are normally held on Fridays, but Cleveland had Muench’s case moved to Oct. 29, a Thursday, to protect the identities of the victims.
“I didn’t want to be interviewed and asked the identities of the victims,” Cleveland told The State Journal. “So to avoid that, I had him arraigned on Thursday the 29th. It was to further protect the identity of these victims.
“That was the sole purpose, to keep these victims from being possibly identified.”