The Black Collar Crime Series relies on public news stories and publicly available information for its content. If any incorrect information is found, please contact Bruce Gerencser. Nothing in this post should be construed as an accusation of guilt. Those accused of crimes are innocent until proven guilty.
In November 2022, Robert Auxter, former pastor of Grace Lutheran Church in Monroe, Michigan, was charged with two felony counts of gross sexual imposition. Grace Lutheran is affiliated with the Missouri Synod.
Robert Auxter, 75, of Monroe, who had been a pastor and a deacon at Monroe’s Grace Lutheran Church, is charged with two felony counts of gross sexual imposition by the Ottawa Common Pleas Court of Ottawa County in Port Clinton, Ohio.
Auxter was charged Nov. 21 and had an initial arraignment Nov. 28. According to court documents, he is charged with having sexual contact with a person younger than age 13 between March 1 and 31, 2022, in Ottawa County, Ohio. The second charge of gross sexual imposition is for sexual contact with a person less than age 13 between June 1 and Aug. 31, 2022, in Ottawa County.
Auxter’s pretrial hearings have been set for Dec. 28 and Jan. 18. A jury trial is set for Jan. 31.
According to Monroe News archives, Auxter was a deacon at the church in 2018. Most recently, he was identified as a pastor at Grace. He left church leadership a couple of months ago.
Auxter pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison.
A former Monroe pastor was sentenced Monday after he was convicted of sex crimes.
Judge Bruce Winters of Ottawa County sentenced Robert Auxter to six years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of Gross Sexual Imposition, which are third-degree felonies, in April. Auxter is required to register as a tier 2 sex offender.
Court records show the charges stem from sexual contact with a person under the age of 13. Auxter was charged in November of 2022. He was serving as a pastor in Monroe until he resigned in October.
Bruce Gerencser, 67, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 46 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.
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