MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Stephen Montemayor Star Tribune MAY 21, 2015
The man accusing a former Hastings priest of sexual abuse in the 1980s and 1990s took the stand in a Dakota County courtroom Thursday and told how summer break from the parochial school at St. Boniface Church also meant an escape from Francis Hoefgen.
The former altar boy, now 36, broke years of silence to report the alleged sexual abuse to police in 2013. Thursday morning was the first time the man and Hoefgen, 64, had been in the same room since Hoefgen left St. Boniface in 1992.
“I wanted something done,” the man said when asked why he decided to come forward to Hastings police in 2013. “I wanted him to pay. I want him to go to prison.”
Hoefgen, who has left the priesthood and lives in Columbia Heights, faces two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. While dozens of priests have been accused of sexual misconduct, Hoefgen is one of the few to face criminal charges for alleged offenses that date back decades.
During more than an hour of testimony Thursday, jurors listened as the man detailed how Hoefgen’s alleged abuses progressed when the victim was in fourth, fifth and sixth grade at the parochial school at St. Boniface. The Star Tribune is not naming the man because he is the victim of an alleged sexual assault.
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