Lawyers Release Deposition of Archdiocese's Former Point Man on Clergy Sexual Abuse Matters

Star Tribune
April 24, 2014

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/256548641.html

Lawyers for alleged victims of sexual abuse by priests said a video deposition released Thursday from a former top official in the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese shows that he minimized the problem and refused to cooperate with police and internal investigators.

The Rev. Kevin McDonough gave his sworn testimony last week. He was the archdiocese's vicar general for 17 years until 2008 and served for several years as its point man for handling complaints of clergy misconduct until September.

"Kevin McDonough, here in this deposition and throughout his time here, was a master of half-truths, which I believe are whole lies, and are often far more dangerous than an outright lie," attorney Mike Finnegan said at a news conference.

Under 6? hours of questioning by attorney Jeff Anderson, McDonough acknowledged he chose not to talk to St. Paul police who were looking into recent allegations of clergy misconduct. He also acknowledged declining to speak to a task force the archdiocese set up to examine how church officials handled abuse cases. And he said he was mindful when generating written materials that Anderson might obtain them through his numerous lawsuits against the church.

The attorneys released a video deposition from Archbishop John Nienstedt on Tuesday. Finnegan said they will go to court to seek more time with both men because they believe their lawyers ended the depositions prematurely. He said they'll also seek more time to question the men about documents the archdiocese has not yet turned over.

McDonough's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment. But the archdiocese posted a statement on its website, along with the depositions, saying McDonough "cooperated throughout the session" and that the length of time complied with a court order.

"McDonough emphasized that he always had the best interests of children and the vulnerable in mind when doing his work. He also acknowledged that the harm caused by sexual abuse is serious and grave," the statement said.

McDonough and Nienstedt generally have refused to grant media interviews in recent months, so the court-ordered depositions represent some of their first publicly released questioning since the latest allegations began surfacing last fall after former chancery official Jennifer Haselberger became a whistleblower.

Police left a letter for McDonough last December asking to speak with him. McDonough said he turned it over to his attorney, Andrew Birrell, who was present for the deposition and advised him not explain why he didn't speak to the officers. Anderson then asked whether McDonough ever reached out to the investigators.

"One doesn't simply call the police and say, 'I'd like to come in for a chat, ladies and gentlemen,'" McDonough replied.

McDonough also chose not to speak to the task force, which reported last week that it found serious shortcomings in how the archdiocese has responded to the recent crisis. McDonough called his refusal to participate a "prudent choice" under the circumstances.

"From the very beginning, I felt that there was a media frenzy about all of this, some of it stirred by inaccurate statement from yourself. ... Since most of my activity was heavily documented publicly for many, many years, (I) didn't see any particular pressing need to defend my record," McDonough told Anderson.

Nienstedt testified that McDonough once told him some information should not be put in writing to keep it out of litigation. Asked about that, McDonough said he didn't believe he had told the archbishop not to document conversations concerning sexual abuse. But McDonough acknowledged he had acted for about 20 years under the assumption that Anderson could obtain any records he creates.

"When I produced my records, my tendency was to mentally invite Jeff Anderson into the office, presuming that I would be held accountable in the years ahead for my activity," he said.