Priests Accused of Child Sex Abuse Disclosed
By Emily Gurnon
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on Thursday released its list of priests "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children. The list of 34 priests dates to 1950. It includes at least one priest from 92 of the archdiocese's 188 parishes, the archdiocese reported. Ramsey County District Judge John Van de North on Monday ordered the list be made public. He gave the Twin Cities archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona until Dec. 17 to do so. Archbishop John Nienstedt said in a letter on the archdiocese website Thursday that it would disclose all "credible and ... substantiated" claims on the website from now on. "This is a tragedy that has caused insufferable harm to victims, their families, parishioners and the church," Nienstedt wrote. "I must say once again to all victims of this abuse: I am so sorry for the pain you have endured." Attorney Jeff Anderson, who specializes in representing clergy abuse victims, said at a news conference that Thursday's release of priest names was a step forward. "We believe that survivors will be given permission in a way they haven't before to break the silence and share the secret," Anderson said. The information also may aid law enforcement in investigating the crimes, he said. But the abusive priests themselves should not be the sole focus, Anderson said. "The real imperative is to expose the top officials, current and past, who made the conscious choice to allow these men to continue to abuse and reoffend repeatedly year after year, time and time again," he said. "And until the top officials of the archdiocese who are complicit in the clerical crimes are held to account and fully exposed, the pattern seems to inevitably continue on its headlong course." Anderson said he was certain the list did not include all offending priests. At Anderson's office was Jim Keenan, who sued former priest Thomas Adamson for abuse he suffered in the early '80s. Keenan called the list's release the "right step ... but a tiny step." "Try to put your hands around the idea that a religious organization has to be forced to protect children," he said. "That's crazy." The list came out of a 2004 study commissioned by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and conducted by John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. The study counted victims of clergy sexual abuse over the previous 50 years, with perpetrators' names provided by the dioceses and archdioceses. It originally included 33 names. The archdiocese added Curtis Wehmeyer, who was convicted of molesting two boys while he served at Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul. The names are: Thomas Adamson, John T. Brown, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Gilbert DeSutter, Gilbert Gustafson, Louis (aka Joseph) Heitzer, Rudolph Henrich, Francis Hoefgen, Richard Jeub, Dennis Kampa, Robert Kapoun, Jerome Kern, Lee Krautkremer, Ronan Liles, Alfred Longley, Brennan Maiers, Timothy McCarthy, John McGrath, Paul Palmitessa, Joseph Pinkosh, Francis J. Reynolds, Richard Skluzacek, Michael J. Stevens, Thomas Stitts, Robert Thurner, Clarence Vavra, Joseph Wajda, Raymond Walter, Curtis Wehmeyer and Robert Zasacki. Also on the list but considered by the archdiocese to be the subject of "unsubstantiated" allegations are Eugene Corica, Robert Loftus, Patrick Ryan and Roger Vaughn. Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Follow her at twitter.com/emilygurnon. Librarian Patrician Thraen contributed to this report.
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