MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
BY STEVE SCOTT
Pioneer Press
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis has reached an out-of-court settlement with a Wisconsin woman who alleged she was sexually abused by a White Bear Lake priest more than two decades ago.
Anne Bonse, 33, of Glenwood City, Wis., said she was molested between the ages of 5 and 11 by Gilbert Gustafson, then a priest at St. Mary of the Lake Catholic Church.
In a lawsuit filed in November 2002, she also alleged she was "re-victimized" by a "callous, dismissive and inadequate" response in February 2000, when she told the Rev. Kevin McDonough, the archdiocese's chief of staff, of the alleged abuse. Additionally, she claimed that Archbishop Harry Flynn refused to meet with her to discuss the case.
As part of a settlement — announced Wednesday by Bonse and her attorney, family and friends in front of church headquarters — the archdiocese agreed to apologize in writing to Bonse, who also will receive an undisclosed amount of cash. The suit had sought at least $50,000.