Extensive Personnel Files of 14 Priests "Credibly Accused" of Abuse Will Become Public Today
By Jerome Christenson
What the bishops knew of the activities of abusive priests, and when they knew it, will become public knowledge today. The personnel files of 14 priests "credibly accused" of sexual abuse who at one time were assigned to parishes in the Winona diocese are scheduled to be released following a news conference in Rochester Tuesday morning. Nine of the 14 priests on the list are deceased, two have been laicized, and two are pending laicization. None are in active ministry. The files were obtained and are being released by Anderson & Associates, attorneys for the plaintiff in a suit brought against the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota's Ramsey County in June 2013. The suit was the first to be brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which lifted the statute of limitation on claims of sexual abuse for three years for past abuse cases and eliminated the civil statute of limitation on abuse cases into the future. In this case, the plaintiff, identified in court documents only as John Doe 1, alleges that in 1976 and 1977 he was sexually abused by Thomas Adamson, then a priest assigned to St. Thomas Aquinas parish in St. Paul Park. Adamson had been transferred from the Diocese of Winona to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis in 1974, at which time church officials "knew or should have known that Adamson had sexually abused and victimized over 20 children since 1964," according to court filings. The suit charges that church authorities were negligent by assigning a priest known to have sexually abused boys in the past to ministerial positions where he would have ready access to children and failing to inform parishioners of the priest's history. The suit further claims that church leaders created a "public nuisance" by failing to warn parishioners about the priest. The case, scheduled to go to trial Nov. 3, will be the first clerical sexual abuse case nationwide to use the public nuisance theory at trial. In refusing to dismiss the suit, Ramsey County District Court Judge John Van de North wrote, "Failing to disclose information about an accused priest is akin to, and conceivably more offensive and dangerous, than other acts that have been considered public nuisances," further noting that harboring worrisome dogs, maintaining houses of prostitution, and swearing in public have been found to be public nuisances. The names of the 14 priests were first released on Dec. 16, 2013, following a court order requiring the diocese and archdiocese to make public each priest's name, date of birth, year of ordination, whether the priest is alive or deceased, all parishes where the priest served within the diocese, current ministerial status and most current address known. The men worked at 45 parishes in 44 cities across southern Minnesota. Their service at Winona-area parishes dates primarily from the mid-1950s through the 1970s, though a few continued to serve into the 2000s. Some of the priests were suspended and then defrocked, while others left the diocese voluntarily or died before any formal action was taken. Many have died. The most recently accused priest, Leo Koppala, was convicted earlier this year of fondling a 12-year-old girl while serving a southern Minnesota church, and was deported to his native India. On June 23, Winona Bishop John Quinn voluntarily released additional information -- including a summary of the accusations made against each priest, a photo, brief biography and a list of their pastoral assignments and made the information available on the diocesan website. As the information was released Quinn told reporters he believed the sexual abuse alleged against the former priests of the Winona diocese actually did take place. "They don't make these things up," Quinn said of those who have come forward to report sexual abuse.
|
.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.