MINNESOTA
The Journal
Breaking the Silence
May 22, 2016
By Kevin Sweeney – Journal Editor , The Journal
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles The Journal is publishing on the issue of sexual abuse of children by priests in the New Ulm Diocese. Today’s article tells the story of Kim Schmit, who was abused as a child in Willmar by Fr. David Roney.
Next Sunday: Leon’s story.
Kim Schmit is different from many other victims of clerical sex abuse of children. She told someone what happened, when it happened.
Her parents told officials at St. Mary’s Church in Willmar what Father David Roney had done to her, and were assured Roney would be dealt with. But Roney remained pastor at St. Mary’s and has been the subject of several lawsuits accusing him of sexually abusing more children in the years after Schmit’s accusation. To Schmit, it was an example of the way the Catholic Church as an organization has harbored and protected predatory priests.
Schmit’s family had moved to Willmar when she was 2. Her father, a self-taught musician, was the music teacher at St. Mary’s Catholic School. Her mother was a stay-at-home mom.
“She didn’t even have a drivers license. She would send a taxi cab to pick us up from after school functions,” Schmit recalls.
As a child, Schmit’s mother would send her and her younger sister to St. Mary’s for religious education classes on weekdays and Saturday mornings. She and her sister would wait at St. Mary’s school for the cab to pick them up.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.