Jury to be chosen for priest's sexual assault trial

La Crosse, WI, USA -- Jury selection begins today in the trial for a visiting Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a female parishioner.

Attorneys will impanel the jury in the Rev. Edmund Donkor-Baine case during a 9 a.m. hearing in La Crosse County Circuit Court.

Opening arguments in his two-day trial for misdemeanor fourth-degree sexual assault are set for Tuesday morning.

Donkor-Baine, 48, is accused of forcing a woman to touch his genitals and grabbing her breasts through clothing while the pair talked inside her vehicle in August, according to the complaint. The 48-year-old woman met with Donkor-Baine, a Ghana resident who came to the U.S. for medical care, for an emergency counseling session on her divorce.

She first reported the incident in September to Diocese of La Crosse, but a diocese investigation found no evidence to support the woman's claim. She reported the assault to law enforcement in December, reports stated. Donkor-Baine is represented by attorney Cheryl Gill, while District Attorney Tim Gruenke is prosecuting the case. The priest faces a maximum of nine months in jail if convicted.