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	Crosiers Will Pay $1.7 Million to Priests" Sex-abuse Victims By Emily Gurnon Pioneer Press February 5, 2009 http://www.twincities.com/allheadlines/ci_11634858?nclick_check=1 A former Onamia man and eight others who were abused by clerics in the Catholic order of Crosiers — including one priest at St. Odilia in Shoreview — won a $1.7 million settlement from the group. Bob Skjonsby, now 43 and living in Port Orchard, Wash., was molested by Wendell Mohs, 56, when he was a 17-year-old altar boy at Sacred Heart parish in Wahkon, Minn., in the early 1980s. "It's been a long, hard journey," Skjonsby said today at an afternoon press conference at attorney Jeff Anderson's office in St. Paul. "But this is a victory for us victims and all the survivors out there... It's not our fault." The settlement also involved three men who were abused by Gerald Funcheon, known as "Father Jerry," who worked at St. Odilia parish in Shoreview and taught at the church school there. David Bidney, 49, said Funcheon molested him for almost three years, beginning when he was 10. He trusted the priest, he said. "I thought he was God's right-hand man," said Bidney, who now lives in Hinckley. "I was just a kid." Mohs has admitted that he victimized Skjonsby and that his supervisors knew he molested kids even earlier in his career, but they kept moving him around to other positions involving children, according to the lawsuit by Skjonsby. In addition to the money, the Crosiers agreed to disclose names of other former members still alive who had "credible allegations" of sexual abuse made against them, said attorney Mike Finnegan. The religious order also will disclose documents related to the alleged abusers, he said. The settlement "goes a long ways toward protecting children," Finnegan said. He congratulated Skjonsby for coming forward. "He's a huge champion of children," he said. In a statement issued today, Thomas R. Carkhuff of the U.S. Crosier Province said the group hopes the settlement helps the victims move toward "peace and healing." "We are deeply sorry for these wrongs that were committed in the past by some Crosiers, and for the pain that this abuse has caused these men and their families," Carkhuff said. The other priests and brothers involved in the settlement were Roger Vaughn, Gregory Madigan and Gabriel Guerrero. The men were moved around among Crosier communities, including a boarding school seminary for boys in Onamia, Holy Cross Parish at the seminary, Sacred Heart Parish in nearby Wahkon, the Teens Encounter Christ program, St. Odilia in Shoreview and a community in Indiana, Anderson said. Mohs, a native of Blackduck, Minn., has worked in Onamia, Belle Prairie, Minneapolis, Coon Rapids, St. Paul, Anoka and St. Cloud. He is believed to be living in Rice, Minn. "The best thing about this whole thing is maybe someone will see this and know that it's better to come out than to hide," Bidney said. Contact: egurnon@pioneerpress.com
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