"Serious Shortcomings" Cited in Archdiocese's Handling of Sex Abuse Cases

By Emily Gurnon
Pioneer Press
April 14, 2014

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_25565070/st-paul-archdiocese-report-sex-abuse-handling-had

The Rev. Reginald Whitt was tasked with appointing members to the Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force. (Courtesy of University of St. Thomas School of Law)

There are "serious shortcomings" in the way the Twin Cities archdiocese has dealt with alleged child sexual abuse by its priests, a lay task force said in a report released Monday.

The Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force said the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had for many years "concentrated too much power in one or two individuals to make decisions" about clergy sex abuse.

One of those, former Vicar General Kevin McDonough, refused through his attorney to be interviewed for the report. Among its conclusions:

-- Record-keeping on clergy is done by outdated systems and is not comprehensive.

-- The archdiocese's complaint-reporting system is "confusing and inadequate.

The Rev. Kevin McDonough (Pioneer Press file photo)

-- Communication among archdiocese officials and between the archdiocese and church members, the public, abuse victims and the media about clergy abuse "has been inadequate and, at time, non-existent."

-- The archdiocese has "no meaningful compliance auditing and monitoring program to evaluate, test and monitor compliance with policies and procedures designed to prevent and detect sexual abuse of minors."

The task force, whose members were appointed in October by the Rev. Reginald Whitt of University of St. Thomas School of Law, said in a statement that it would not talk with the media about its report.

Archdiocese spokesman Jim Accurso said in a statement that the archdiocese was "grateful" for the report.

"The task force urges prompt action, and the archbishop concurs that action should be timely," Accurso said.

Archbishop John Nienstedt said in the statement, "We look forward to working in collaboration with Father Whitt to implement these recommendations."

But a prominent victims' advocacy group criticized the report as "old news," "deceitful" and vague.

The task force was formed after reports last fall that the archdiocese had failed to deal adequately with alleged priest misconduct, kept accused sex abusers in place after allegations surfaced and failed to report potential crimes to police.

Archbishop John Nienstedt appointed Whitt as vicar for ministerial standards in October. Whitt appointed seven lay members of the task force and did not take part in its meetings, so as to allow the group to remain independent, he said.

The task force met 23 times from Oct. 9 to March 27 and interviewed 32 people. It gave Whitt its findings April 3 and, after minor changes by Whitt, the report was submitted to the archdiocese Friday. The archdiocese released it Monday.

Task force members wanted to interview another former vicar general, the Rev. Peter Laird. But the archdiocese said Laird was on leave and "it did not have contact information for him."

But March 27, three weeks after the task force asked to interview him, it learned he had sent a letter March 13 to the archbishop, expressing his desire to talk with the task force and listing his phone number and email address.

By the time the task force learned of Laird's letter, it had finished its work and did not speak to Laird.

But it noted in its report, "The task force is disappointed that the archdiocese was not more transparent with respect to the situation with Father Laird. The task force sees this failure to communicate and lack of urgency as an example of the kind of issue that the archdiocese needs to address to change its culture."

Jennifer Haselberger, the archdiocese's former chancellor for canonical affairs, declined through her attorney to be interviewed by the task force.

In an email Monday, Haselberger said, "I did not meet with the task force, but informed them that all necessary information was available from the archdiocese in the countless memos I had prepared over the course of nearly five years, which described in great detail the concerns I had regarding the archdiocese's handling of clergy misconduct."

In a telephone interview, she added: "Based on the conclusions (of the report), it would appear that they didn't have access to that information."

After quitting her job in March 2013, Haselberger gave police internal documents that exposed the archdiocese's alleged mishandling of sexual abuse cases, including the case of the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, the one-time priest of Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul who was convicted of abusing two boys.

Though its work did not focus on individual cases, the task force devoted a portion of the report to the Wehmeyer case.

The report said Wehmeyer, who is serving a five-year prison term, "exhibited problematic sexual behavior" from 2004 to 2009, including:

-- Engaging in sexual banter with young men in a Roseville bookstore.

-- "Cruising" a Maplewood park known for anonymous sexual rendezvous.

-- Being arrested for drunken driving.

After placing Wehmeyer on a monitoring program, church officials learned he was camping with underage boys, yet no one alerted the proper archdiocese authorities, the task force wrote.

Sometimes, there were follow-up to reports about Wehmeyer made to church officials by parishioners, parish staff and other priests. Other times they were ignored.

There were "sufficient warning signs to suggest the need for a more aggressive and coordinated response to Wehmeyer's misconduct, including referral to the Clergy Review Board," which is supposed to advise the archbishop on priest sexual abuse of minors, the task force wrote.

It blamed "structural deficiencies" for the problems of the Wehmeyer case.

When Wehmeyer's "red flag" behavior was reported, "those reports were not handled well by archdiocesan officials, causing a delay that may have allowed further abuse to occur."

The fact that Rev. Kevin McDonough served as both vicar general and "delegate for safe environment" removed checks and balances from the process, the task force said. It suggested the latter position be held by a lay person.

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) denounced the report.

"Once again, we have a very lengthy Catholic church report that claims 'mistakes' have been made and implying that some minor 'tweaks' in job titles and church policies will make abuse by clergy and coverups by bishops a problem in the past," SNAP spokeswoman Barbara Dorris of St. Louis said in a statement.

"That is, of course, silly and deceptive."

Such changes in titles and policies will not change how the church deals with its offending priests, "because the church is a rigid, ancient, secretive, self-serving hierarchy," Dorris wrote. Blaming outdated systems for problems is "laughable," she wrote.

"As long as we act like these are 'mistakes' and not intentional, self-serving choices by smart but selfish men, kids will continue being hurt and crimes will continue being concealed," Dorris wrote.

Emily Gurnon can be reached at 651-228-5522. Follow her at twitter.com/emilygurnon.

KEY FINDINGS

The Safe Environment and Ministerial Standards Task Force found:

-- The archdiocese "concentrated too much power in one or two individuals" to deal with clergy sex abuse.

-- Internal and external communication by the archdiocese about sexual abuse has been "inadequate and, at time, non-existent."

-- Outdated systems make record-keeping on clergy less than comprehensive.

-- The system for reporting complaints is "confusing and inadequate."

-- The archdiocese has "no meaningful compliance auditing and monitoring program" for its sex abuse policies.

-- A delay in handling reports about the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer "may have allowed further abuse to occur."

Here are some of the photos of those priests and monks listed as suspected of sexually abusing children. Above: Thomas Adamson (Courtesy of Jeff Anderson)