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  Portland Ministry Removes Priest
The Rev. Gus Krumm Is Accused in a Second Sex Scandal in 10 Years

Associated Press, carried in StatesmanJournal.com
May 27, 2002

Portland — A Roman Catholic priest who was accused in a sex scandal a decade ago has been removed from the ministry in Oregon amid another claim of abuse, it was reported Sunday.

The Rev. Gus Krumm, a 48-year-old Franciscan priest, was removed Tuesday from his post as pastor of Ascension Catholic Church in Portland, the Santa Barbara News-Press reported.

Krumm had trained at St. Anthony's Seminary in Santa Barbara in the 1980s. He declined to comment Sunday.

In 1995, the Franciscan Order paid an out-of-court settlement to a former student at the seminary who alleged that Krumm repeatedly molested him in the early 1980s, the newspaper said.

However, the Franciscans said those claims were never substantiated, and Krumm was cleared to continue working.

"Now I have a substantiated claim, and I am acting on it," said the Rev. Finnian McGinn, the provincial of the Franciscan Order. "The province wants to assure parishioners that no other incidents of sexual misconduct have been reported and no other complaints have been received."

Krumm's case has been turned over to the Independent Response Team of the Franciscan Province, which will require that the priest undergo psychological testing and assessment.

The team was created to assess priest abuse allegations in the wake of the St. Anthony's scandal 10 years ago.

In 1993, a board of inquiry concluded that at least 34 boys were sexually abused there from 1963 to 1987. Two priests were convicted in the case.

The board identified 11 friars — about one-quarter of the friars on staff during that period — who were involved in sexual abuse of minors during those 23 years, according to the board's November 1993 report.

About 20 former students filed lawsuits against the friars. Many of the cases were settled with pledges of confidentiality and cash payments ranging from $90,000 to $1.7 million.

Several of Krumm's parishioners in Oregon said they were shaken by his removal.

"I am shocked, because to me he seems like such a man of compassion for humanity," said parishioner Fran Shultz. "The people really seemed to love him. He has brought so many people to our church."

 
 

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