MINNESOTA
Mankato Free Press
By Dan Nienaber
dnienaber@mankatofreepress.com
NEW ULM — Attorneys leading a statewide effort to have lists of priests credibly accused of molesting children released were asking why the Diocese of New Ulm is fighting to keep its list secret after a court hearing Monday.
The diocese is the only diocese in the state that hasn’t released a list that was provided to the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York City in 2004. The lists were created for a study, started by Catholic bishops, to determine the scope of child sexual abuse by priests in the United States.
Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney, and his law firm have been filing lawsuits in several Minnesota District Courts, including Brown County, on behalf of victims claiming they were sexually abused by priests. Many of those lawsuits included motions to have the lists released to the public.
Similar lists created by dioceses in Minneapolis and St. Paul, St. Cloud, Winona, Duluth and Crookston were released by court order or voluntarily after the motions were filed. During Monday’s hearing, Thomas Wieser, an attorney for the Diocese of New Ulm, argued to keep the New Ulm list secret.
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