October 26, 2005

Hudson priest worried about sex allegation

WISCONSIN
Minneapolis Star-Tribune

Randy Furst, Star Tribune
Last update: October 26, 2005 at 9:51 AM

The Rev. Ryan Erickson, the Hudson priest accused of killing two funeral home workers in 2002, acknowledged lying down next to a teenage boy he was counseling about sex and telling him it was all right to be aroused.

He told police he was worried that he would have to disclose the sexual allegation to the diocese's bishop and would be removed as a priest.

Erickson made the comments to Hudson detectives during an interview on Dec. 7, 2004, 12 days before he committed suicide in Hurley, Wis., at the age of 31.

The 115-page transcript of the interview, the second and last time he was questioned by police, was released Tuesday by Hudson police.

Erickson was questioned at the Rusk County Sheriff's Department in Ladysmith, Wis. A transcript of the first interview, on Nov. 11, 2004, was released earlier.

Posted by kshaw at October 26, 2005 06:39 PM