Deposition of St. Louis Archbishop Released As Part of Minn. Lawsuit

By Jennie Olson
KAAL
June 9, 2014

http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/S3467971.shtml?cat=10151

[with video]

Yet another deposition was released Monday in the ongoing clergy sex abuse case within the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Archbishop Robert Carlson heads the Archdiocese of St. Louis, Missouri, but was ordained in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in 1970. He was in charge of handling child sex abuse allegations and reports here in Minnesota for 15 years.

Carlson was deposed on May 23 as part of a civil lawsuit in Minnesota.

In the four-hour deposition, Carlson said under oath that he couldn't recall details about how he handled allegations of abuse against a Minnesota priest years ago, but he did say he never went to authorities after that priest admitted in 1984 that he engaged in criminal sexual contact with a minor.

Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Finnegan say the documents show that Carlson made a conscious choice to protect accused sex offenders and conceal crimes. Anderson says Carlson uses the words "I don't remember" 193 times under oath when asked of his knowledge of cases of child sex abuse in the church.

Carlson left Minnesota in 1994 and served as bishop in Sioux Falls, S.D., and Saginaw, Mich., before becoming St. Louis archbishop in 2009.