Lawsuits Allege Abuse by Four Priests in Twin Cities Archdiocese and New Ulm

By Jean Hopfensperger
Star Tribune
October 2, 2014

http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/277974321.html

Three lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse were filed Thursday against four Minnesota priests, including one priest whose name has not been previously linked to pedophilia.

One of the suits alleges that the Rev. Ramon Jerome Buckley, a new name in the sex abuse scandal rocking the Catholic Church, sexually abused an altar boy at Sacred Heart Parish in Robbinsdale during the late 1970s.

According to the suit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, Buckley sexually assaulted the boy in the parish office, including performing oral sex on him. The boy was between 12 and 14 years old, the suit says.

The suit, filed in Ramsey County District Court, alleges that when Buckley left the church and was replaced by the Rev. John McGrath, McGrath continued to abuse the boy for another two years. McGrath also had served in parishes in St. Paul and Minneapolis.