MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
BY STEVE SCOTT
Pioneer Press
A 38-year-old Minneapolis man sued the Catholic dioceses of the Twin Cities and Winona on Monday, claiming he was molested as a teen-ager by Thomas Adamson. Adamson was removed from the priesthood in the mid-1980s after several lawsuits revealed a long history of abuse.
The man, not identified in the civil suit filed by attorney Jeffrey Anderson of St. Paul, said he had no memory of being abused by Adamson until 2002, when widespread national reports surfaced about a clergy abuse scandal. The man said the abuse occurred while he was a member of Risen Savior parish in Apple Valley.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis confirmed Adamson was on the staff there beginning in 1981 but said he was not the pastor.
The archdiocese "had no prior knowledge of the alleged sexual abuse of a minor'' in this case, it said in a statement released Monday.
"Thomas Adamson, the former priest accused in this matter, was dismissed in 1984, after cases of abuse of minors were uncovered,'' the statement continued. "However, the complaint by this particular plaintiff, encompassing alleged sexual abuse by Adamson … has not previously been brought to the archdiocese's attention.''