Former pastor pleads not guilty to sex charges

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This article was published 23/08/2018 (2219 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A longtime Winnipeg pastor, who allegedly arranged to meet for sex with a police officer who was posing as a 15-year-old girl in California, has pleaded not guilty and was released on US$25,000 bail.

Nathan George Rieger, 53, was arrested on Aug. 10 in Arroyo Grande, Calif., and charged with one count of arranging to meet a minor for a sexual act and one count of meeting a minor for a sexual act, police documents show.

His arrest was the culmination of a four-day undercover sting operation, an Arroyo Grande police spokesman told the Free Press.

During that time, Rieger had been communicating online with a undercover cop, who had created an avatar of a 15-year-old girl, police said on Friday.

Rieger entered the plea on Thursday, and is scheduled to be in court on Aug. 30. No conditions were placed on his release, police said.

Before his arrest, Rieger had served nearly 20 years as pastoral executive for the Winnipeg Centre Vineyard Church at 782 Main St. The church is part of a global evangelical mission that has more than 2,500 congregations on six continents.

After his arrest, he voluntarily stepped down from his position, which he’d held since 1999, church officials announced at the Aug. 19 service.

Rieger was reportedly in California on vacation with his family at the time of his arrest. His arrest record indicated he was initially held in the local county jail.

ryan.thorpe@freepress.mb.ca