Diocese of Crookston Ordered to Produce Records about Alleged Sex Abuse

By Jennie Lissarrague
KSTP
August 31, 2015

http://kstp.com/article/stories/s3893407.shtml

A judge has ordered the Diocese of Crookston to produce all records about sexual abuse reported against any priest before 1985.

The diocese is a defendant in a clergy sex abuse lawsuit, and the documents will be produced under seal, according to lawyer Jeff Anderson. The lawsuit alleges that the victim was sexually abuse by the Rev. J. Vincent Fitzgerald; the victim says he met Fitzgerald at St. Ann’s Parish in Naytahwaush, Minnesota, in the mid-1980s.

The diocese previously released a list of credibly-abused priests but hasn’t publicly released the related documents, Anderson said. Anderson said the documents will show what the diocese knew about abusive priests, when it knew and how officials responded.

The lawsuit was filed under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which gives child sexual abuse victims until May 25, 2016, to file civil lawsuits.