St. Paul archdiocese, alleged abuse victims reach settlement

By Emily Gurnon And Kristi Belcamino
Pioneer Press
October 13, 2014

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_26715539/archdiocese-abuse-victims-reach-monumental-settlement

Attorney Jeff Anderson speaks at an Aug. 4, 2014, press conference outside the Ramsey County Courthouse in St. Paul.

A settlement between child sex abuse victims and church officials will be announced Monday, only a few weeks before a groundbreaking trial accusing the Roman Catholic church of turning a blind eye to clergy abuse was scheduled to begin, the victim's attorney said.

Details of the confidential settlement between victims and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona will be outlined before a Ramsey County judge Monday morning before an official announcement is made later in the afternoon.

Sources said the landmark agreement not only settles a lawsuit slated to go to trial Nov. 3 but also covers hundreds of other alleged abuse victims who have been waiting in the wings with their own allegations.

Along with the financial settlement, the agreement will stipulate how future allegations of abuse are handled.

"This feels to me like a new way and a new day," said Jeff Anderson, attorney for the victims. "There is a strict difference between policy and protocol and action, but they (archdiocese officials) are committed to working with us than against us."

Auxiliary Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Vicar General Charles Lachowitzer are expected to join Anderson and some of the victims at the joint news conference at 1 p.m. Monday at the Landmark Center in St. Paul. Anderson spent most of Sunday contacting survivors and former and current clients.

In the lawsuit Anderson filed against the archdiocese and diocese, the victim, Doe 1, claims he was molested by Rev.

Thomas Adamson.

In September, a Ramsey County judge made a landmark ruling in the case saying the law firm could proceed with a controversial claim that church leaders created a "public nuisance" by concealing information about Adamson.

Michael Finnegan, co-counsel with Anderson, has said that the case represented "the first time in the country that a public-nuisance claim against any Catholic diocese is going to trial."

That would have meant "a full public airing of all the current practices and everything they've done to the present to conceal and cover up child sex abuse," Finnegan said.

In December, the judge forced the disclosure by the archdiocese and diocese of priests the church considered "credibly accused" of child sexual abuse.

In addition, the judge ordered the church to release sealed files of priests accused of child sexual abuse that the archdiocese in some cases considered to be unsubstantiated.

For the past year, Archbishop John Nienstedt has been under fire for his handling of the church abuse crisis after a former archdiocese chancellor for canonical affairs began leaking church papers that exposed missteps officials had taken in dealing with abusive priests.