WISCONSIN
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Paul Levy, Star Tribune
Last update: October 13, 2005 at 1:04 AM
Authorities in Vilas County, Wis., decided not to file charges against Ryan Erickson when he was a seminary student even though a teenage boy told police that Erickson fondled the teen's genitals and asked to perform oral sex on him in 1992.
The Diocese of Superior "is extremely worried about these allegations even if no charges are brought," an investigator wrote at the time. Paraphrasing diocese leaders, the investigator's report said: "Just this investigation may be enough to ruin [Erickson's] chances of becoming a priest."
A judge ruled last week that it was probably Father Erickson who shot two men to death in a Hudson funeral home in 2002. One of the victims, funeral director Dan O'Connell, had planned to meet with Erickson on the day he was killed. O'Connell had concerns that Erickson had touched children inappropriately, according to testimony at a hearing last week.
Erickson committed suicide in December after he was questioned about the funeral home slayings.