Alleged Sexual Abuse by Deceased Priest in Crookston Diocese

Valley News Live
September 4, 2015

http://www.valleynewslive.com/home/headlines/Alleged-Sexual-Abuse-By-Deceased-Priest-In-Crookston-Diocese-324414501.html

A new court ruling could open the door to more court cases regarding alleged sexual abuse by a Catholic priest in our region.

A Judge has ruled the Crookston Diocese must release all records prior to 1985, regarding possible cases of sexual abuse. Those records had been sealed.

It all stems from the case against Father J. Vincent Fitzgerald, who died in 2009.

During his career as a priest from 1951 to 1992, Father J. Vincent Fitzgerald served at numerous parishes across Minnesota and across the Country, including reservations at Cass Lake and Naytahwaush and Elbow Lake near Mahnomen.

Jeff Anderson, St. Paul Attorney: “Father Fitzgerald is known to have abused many youth in many jurisdictions from some of the sovereign nations… from the Diocese in New Ulm, to the Diocese in Duluth, to the Diocese in Crookston.”

Anderson represents a man who claims he was sexually abused by Father Fitzgerald. He says the ruling by Mahnomen County District Judge, Kurt Marben for the Crookston diocese to open all records prior to 1985 regarding possible cases of sexual abuse, could open the door to more cases.

Jeff Anderson, St. Paul Attorney: “So, he was what we call a serial offender. He is deceased, but we have reason to believe a lot of officials knew he posed some kind of risk of harm. He was given safe harbor for many years.”

Anderson says at one point in Father Fitzgerald’s career, Fitzgerald had a mobile parish, a motor home he used to travel the area and gain the trust of parents and their children.

All of this could lead to more civil damage claims, against the Catholic Church.

Officials at the Crookston Diocese have declined to comment on this case.

A Minnesota law allows all people claiming sexual abuse by clergy to file claims, by May of next year.