ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
By Tim Townsend ttownsend@post-dispatch.com 314-340-82211
St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson knew that a priest was a danger to children before that priest was charged last year with molesting a teenage girl, according to a lawsuit filed Friday in Lincoln County.
The lawsuit was filed by the parents of the girl, who told police last June that the Rev. Xiu Hui “Joseph” Jiang, an associate pastor at the Cathedral Basilica in the Central West End at the time, had molested her. Jiang, 30, was eventually charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. The girl had described him as a family friend.
In the lawsuit filed Friday, the girl’s parents said Carlson “knew that Father Jiang was dangerous to children” and “that allowing Father Jiang access to minors as part of his duties as a priest, would result in Father Jiang harming minors.” The suit does not provide details of how Carlson would have known Jiang was a threat to children.
According to the suit, the girl’s parents last year asked Carlson if Jiang, who was ordained in 2010, would be removed from the priesthood. Carlson responded “that he would remove Jiang if he ‘had sex’ with the child, but not for activities other than that,” according to the suit.
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