MINNESOTA
KAAL
[with video]
By: Jenna Lohse
(ABC 6 News) — A Ramsey County District Court judge has ruled a civil trial involving child sex abuse and the catholic church in Minnesota can move forward.
We talked with an attorney representing the abuse victims who is calling this a historic decision. The judge denied a request from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona to dismiss a public nuisance claim.
The claim involves accusations the church covered up child sex abuse. As we’ve reported, a lawsuit was filed last year against former priest Thomas Adamson of Rochester. In a sworn deposition Adamson admitted to sexually abusing at least 12 teens from the 1960’s to the mid 1980’s, including in Rochester. That prompted the release of an abuse summary of 13 priests who have been “credibly accused” of sexually abusing children.
We’re told today’s decision is unprecedented. “It’s the first time that a Catholic Diocese claim of public nuisance is going to move forward against the Catholic Diocese. What this means for the Diocese of Winona is that there’s now going to be a public trial that’s going to air the truth about what they did in the past, covering up and concealing priest sexual abusers in the diocese,” said Victim’s Attorney, Mike Finnegan.
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