INTERVIEW: Analysis of Former Priest Never Disciplined for Abuse of Children

By Cassie Hart
KSTP
June 25, 2014

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3484819.shtml

In a deposition released Tuesday, a former priest says he was never disciplined for allegations of abusing children in his decades-long career with the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis.

Father Jerome Kern worked at St. Mark's in St. Paul after being ordained in 1966.

During the April 15 deposition, he was asked when the last time was that he engaged a child in some form of sexual contact; Kern replied it had been 35 years. At the time, he didn't think his contact with some young boys was sexually abusive.

University of St. Thomas Law Professor, Charles Reid, who is  an expert on canon law, religion and the Catholic Church, stopped by KSTP to offer analysis on the case.