More Dow Priests Accused of Abuse

By Chris Rogers
Winona Post
April 13, 2015

http://www.winonapost.com/Article/ArticleID/43691/More-DOW-priests-accused-of-abuse

The Diocese of Winona (DOW) released the names of two more priests who were accused of sexually abusing children. Unless victims or witnesses divulge new information about past abuses or new abuses occur, those two names will be the last. The priests, Father Harold Mountain and Father Thomas Duane, both died years ago, and it appears that in both cases, victims approached the diocese after the priests' deaths.

Mountain served in Winona, LaMoille, Minneiska, Minnesota City, Hart, and a variety of other southern Minnesota communities before retiring in 1989. He died in 2006. In 2011, an alleged victim contacted the diocese claiming that Mountain molested him as a boy.

Duane served in St. Charles and numerous other southern Minnesota towns before retiring in 1979. He died in 1993. In 2002, an alleged victim wrote to Bishop Harrington, claiming that Duane sexually abused her while she was growing up in Spring Valley, Minn.

The diocese released the information — and has released other allegations against priests — as part of a legal settlement with an anonymous victim who sued the diocese in 2013. Last fall, the diocese agreed to make all of its records of reported abuses public. With the release of the accusations against Duane and Mountain, diocese officials said they have made public all of the reports of child sex abuse they have. After the October 2014 settlement, officials began combing through the diocese's personnel files to find any past allegations that would be required to be released. The claims against Mountain and Duane were the only new ones found in that process, according to DOW Director of Communications Joel Hennessy. Hennessy said that now parishioners have as much information about accused priests as the diocese does, and there will not be any further allegations to release unless new information is brought forward. "There was a complete review of all files. That's been completed. At this point, we're done," he stated of the mandated release of information about abuse.

According to the documents released by the diocese, Mountain was involved in a court case in 1959, but it is unclear what the case was about. In an undated letter, likely sent between 1959 and 1963, Mountain warned the Bishop that "a pyscho liar" who had been committed to a state mental hospital was making false accusations against him; however, the letter did not go into any further detail. In 1977, the Bishop and Mountain had some disagreement, the Bishop shared some information about the disagreement with the Archbishop and the Bishop relocated Mountain. The Bishop assigned him to a parish in St. Clair, Minn., adding, "I do not intend to withdraw unless your negative reaction becomes divisive and scandalous to the point that I would not in good conscience be able to give you any pastoral assignment whatsoever in the diocese of Winona."

In 2011, after Mountain's death, an alleged victim contacted DOW Victims Advocate Louise Blissenbach and reported that he had been allegedly abused by Mountain as a school boy. In letters to the Bishop, Blissenbach relayed allegations that Mountain talked about sex with the student and molested him. Blissenbach wrote that the boy told his mother at the time. According to the letter, the alleged victim came forward as an adult after being diagnosed with a terminal illness. "Due to this incident with Father Mountain, [the victim] has been very angry and estranged from the church," Blissenbach wrote. "He wants to be buried in the Catholic cemetery … and would like some amends from the church for healing before he dies. He also wonders if this happened to anyone else in [the parish] or just him?"

In a subsequent email, the alleged victim said that the amends he wanted was the chance to meet with a priest or the Bishop. "I have thought about going to a priest quite a bit over the years, but always back down because I feel so ashamed," he wrote. He explained that because of his terminal illness he expected to die within five years, and added, "I have thought a lot of making amends with the church but when you asked me what the church can do for me, the only thing that I can come up with is 'peace of mind.'" He explained that he is poor and may not be able to afford to pay for his own funeral or to go on a vacation with his children before his death.

According to documents released by the diocese, Duane struggled with alcoholism and parishioners filed complaints that he was intoxicated while giving Mass; however, there was no evidence that the diocese had received allegations that he abused children until one victim wrote to the diocese in 2002, after his death. An alleged victim wrote to the diocese then and claimed that she had been sexually abused by Duane. "What Father Duane did to me affected every area of my life and continues to affect my life today. As an adolescent, I wondered, 'What was so very wrong with me… I had no one to talk to." The victim wrote that her mother told her it was an honor to help the priest lay out his robes on Saturday and do other tasks. "That feeling of being flawed never left me," she wrote. "I don't know what I want from you. Father Duane is dead. Maybe some acknowledgement regarding what his actions did to me," she concluded.

The Bishop wrote back apologizing to the victim for what happened and offering to help in any way he could. The victim said she wanted to pursue therapy.

"I think everybody, not just employees and priests and Catholics, but I think everybody, [is] just sad that it continues on," Hennessy said of the pain caused by abuse. "It will be good to hopefully have a new day and move forward, especially for the people that have suffered for so long, victims and their families and friends."

Hennessy said that the diocese has enacted comprehensive reforms to make diocesan churches and schools safe places for children and to ensure that staff report evidence of abuse. Children are trained to understand what to do if they feel unsafe; and those who work with youth through the diocese as employees or volunteers are thoroughly screened with background checks. "I think our diocese has gone above and beyond other dioceses," Hennessy said of the efforts since 2002 to improve safety practices at the DOW. "Me, as a parent of five children, I feel the church is probably one of the safest places you can intrust your children."

Hennessy encourages victims to contact the diocese to report abuses, as well as contacting police. Victims can call 507-454-2270, extension 225, or send a letter to Victim Assistance Coordinator, Diocese of Winona - Safe Environment Office, 55 West Sanborn Street, PO Box 588, Winona. More information is online at dow.org/safeenvironment.