MINNESOTA
KARE
ROCHESTER, Minn. – The files of 14 priests from the Archdiocese of Winona accused of child sex abuse were made public during a news conference Tuesday in Rochester.
Joining Twin Cities attorney Jeff Anderson at the news conference was Paul Hotchkiss. Hotchkiss said he was abused by former priest Thomas Adamson, a native of Byron who was ordained as a priest in 1958 and got his first assignment in Winona with pastoral duties at St. Casimir’s Parish.
Adamson is at the center of lawsuits against church officials in both St. Paul/Minneapolis and Winona. In a deposition he admitted to molesting at least 10 teenage boys between the 1960’s and the mid-1980’s.
Anderson said the documents have been looked over extensively in order to protect the identities of the survivors.
In a statement released Tuesday afternoon, Winona Bishop John Quinn said the diocese voluntarily released summaries of each of the files in June that were publicly disclosed Tuesday morning. The diocese said nearly all of the child sexual abuse committed by clergy occurred in the 1960’s and 1970’s.
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