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Cretin-derham Hall Principal Takes Heat for Naming Sex Abuse Victim By Maria Elena Baca Star Tribune May 23, 2009 http://www.startribune.com/local/stpaul/45879807.html?elr=KArks:DCiUBcy7hUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aU7DYaGEP7vDEh7P:DiUs A group wants action against Cretin-Derham President Richard Engler for releasing the plaintiff's name in a suit over alleged sex abuse at Cretin High in the '70s. The director of the group Minnesota Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) called Friday for disciplinary action against the principal of Cretin-Derham Hall High School for releasing the name of a former student who filed a lawsuit alleging sexual abuse by a teacher in the 1970s. On Monday, Cretin-Derham President Richard Engler sent a letter to parents of current and prospective students and to members of the school's advisory council, alerting them to the lawsuit against the school. The suit also names the Christian Brothers of the Midwest. "Talk is cheap," SNAP director Bob Schwiderski said at a news conference held in front of the offices of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. "It is a blatant attempt to quiet those that might also be on the verge of stepping out of the shadows of silence." Engler said by phone Friday that the former student's name was revealed to him in a letter from the man's lawyer and that he included it in the name of full disclosure. "I wanted to be perfectly transparent with our parents and our Presidential Advisory Council as to what was occurring," Engler said in a phone interview. "There was no ill intent at all. ... I was afraid it would be released in the media, and my parents would be alerted by the media and not by the school. I wanted to be perfectly honest with our parents." Though Schwiderski demanded the archdiocese take action against Engler, spokesman Dennis McGrath noted that while the school operates under the auspices of the archdiocese, it has no institutional authority over the school's day-to-day affairs. Calls to the school's parents group and to leaders of the Presidential Advisory Council were not returned Friday. |
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