MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Nov 17, 2014
Nancy Meyers remembers the fear in the priest’s eyes when he spotted her.
It was a Sunday morning in 1990, and Nancy, then 42, and her sister Kate had just arrived at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Lino Lakes to confront the man Nancy says had sexually abused her as a child.
The Rev. Kenneth LaVan was greeting parishioners at the back of the church.
“Can I help you?” a parishioner asked.
“Oh, no,” Kate Meyers said. “We’re here to see Father LaVan, it’s just a quick thing. He knows us. We’re old friends.”
When the sisters got to the front of the line, the priest looked nervous. Kate asked if they could talk privately, and LaVan took them around the corner to a small room. They had just a few minutes before the next Mass.
With the door closed, the sisters confronted LaVan. They were alarmed to find out he was still in a parish, and had wanted to catch him off guard to see what he would say. Nancy said she wanted to understand why LaVan had abused her.
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