ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
[with video]
By Lilly Fowler lfowler@post-dispatch.com 314-340-822118
1984 Archbishop Robert J. Carlson memo
Archbishop Robert J. Carlson claims to be unsure that he was aware a priest sexually abusing a child constituted a crime when he was auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, according to a deposition released Monday.
During the deposition, attorney Jeff Anderson asked Carlson whether he knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a child.
“I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,” Carlson replied. “I understand today it’s a crime.”
Anderson went on to ask Carlson whether he knew in 1984, when he was an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, that it was crime for a priest to engage in sex with a child.
“I’m not sure if I did or didn’t,” Carlson said.
Yet according to documents released by the law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates in St. Paul, Carlson showed clear knowledge that it was a crime when discussing sexual abuse incidents with church officials during his time in Minnesota.
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