Media Advisory: First U.S. Bishop Sued for Coercion in Minnesota after Suppressing Report of Child Sexual Abuse

Jeff Anderson & Associates
May 8, 2017

http://www.andersonadvocates.com/Posts/News-or-Event/2151/Media-Advisory---Bishop-Sued-for-Coercion.aspx

First Bishop in the United States

Sued for Coercion

In 2015, a Minnesota Bishop Suppressed

Report of Child Sexual Abuse

Survivor to speak publicly for the first time Tuesday

about abuse by a former top official in Minnesota diocese

Bishop threatened harm to survivor’s vocation and his son’s career as a priest if he did not recant his abuse report

(St. Paul, MN) – At a news conference on Tuesday in St. Paul, attorney Jeff Anderson, a child sexual abuse survivor, and a Minnesota priest will announce the filing of a lawsuit on behalf of the survivor naming a current Minnesota bishop and diocese as defendants. This is the first time in the United States a bishop has been individually sued for coercion.

“The coercion and concealment in real-time demonstrates the crisis continues unabated,” said Attorney Jeff Anderson.

In 2010, the survivor, who was exploring whether to become a church Deacon, reported his abuse to the bishop. The bishop advised the survivor to tell no one of his abuse. In 2015, the diocese was ordered to produce all information on clergy accused of child sexual abuse, however the perpetrator’s name, a former top official in the diocese, was not included in the required, court-ordered disclosure. After the court order was issued, the bishop actively suppressed the survivor’s abuse report.

Tomorrow, the survivor, as well as a priest of the diocese, will speak publicly for the first time about how the bishop threatened retaliation against the survivor and a family member if he disclosed the sexual abuse.

WHEN: Tuesday, May 9, 2017 at 11:00AM CT

WHERE: Jeff Anderson & Associates, PA

366 Jackson St., Suite 100

St. Paul, MN 55101