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	Crookston Diocese Settles Lawsuit with Woman Who Says Priest Sexually Abused Her As a Teen By Emily Gurnon Pioneer Press September 7, 2011 http://www.twincities.com/ci_18833998?nclick_check=1 The Diocese of Crookston has settled a lawsuit by a young woman who said she was sexually abused as a teenager by a priest there. Megan Peterson, 21, of Thief River Falls said during a press conference in her attorney's St. Paul office today that she came forward to make sure other children were protected from the Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul. "I just think he needs to be out of ministry and away from kids," she said. "That's my main concern, and I won't rest until he is." Peterson was raped on "multiple occasions," said her attorney, Jeff Anderson. She told reporters the abuse took place in Jeyapaul's office and in the confessional of Blessed Sacrament Church in Greenbush. At one point, as Anderson described the abuse, Peterson hurried out of the room. "I felt sick," she told reporters later. The $750,000 settlement includes provisions designed to inform other families, warn people in India and urge other victims to reveal abuses, Anderson said. Per the agreement, the Diocese of Crookston will put a link on its website to Jeyapaul's picture and include information about the allegations; publish his photo in parish bulletins; warn parishioners that he is a risk to children and encourage victims to come forward. In addition, the Bishop of Crookston will notify the Bishop of the Diocese of Ootacamund in India about the resolution of the lawsuit, and "will express the Diocese of Crookston's grave concern regarding the suitability for priestly ministry of Fr. Jeyapaul," the lawsuit said. Meanwhile, Jeyapaul still faces two charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in the case involving Peterson, who alleges the abuse occurred in 2004 and 2005 when she was 14 or 15. The criminal complaint says that Peterson was sexually assaulted once or twice a week during the school year and "randomly" during the summer. Peterson told a sheriff's investigator that she had been praying after school one day in the fall of 2004 when Jeyapaul indicated an interest in a book she was reading, the complaint said. The complaint alleges: Jeyapaul told the victim to come into the rectory; they sat on the couch and Jeyapaul took off his collar. Peterson noted that the collar had gold writing on the inside. She reported that the priest started doing "stuff" to himself. He told her it was a sin if she did not touch him and that he could "make her life miserable." He also told her "that she was a bad person and that she should kill herself and if she didn't, (he) would kill her or he would have someone else kill her." He forced oral sex on her and later raped her, the complaint said. A 16-year-old girl also alleged abuse by Jeyapaul, but no charges were filed in connection with her. Peterson had been interested in becoming a nun. She said Tuesday that she has lost her faith in the Catholic Church and in God. Anderson said that Peterson first disclosed the abuse to the office of the bishop of the diocese. Her report was ignored, he said. In October 2006, about a year after Jeyapaul left for India, Peterson told a school counselor about what had happened. The counselor reported it to police. Calls to the Diocese of Crookston were not immediately returned today. The settlement agreement filed with the court says the $750,000 "shall not be construed as an admission of liability" in the case, which was to go to trial Aug. 22. Roseau County Attorney Karen Foss said that the county initiated extradition proceedings for Jeyapaul, but that a Department of Justice attorney was handling that matter. "We don't have anything new regarding whether he's been located or any information about him," Foss said. A call to the Justice Department was not immediately returned. Contact: egurnon@pioneerpress.com
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