Lawyers demand North Dakota Catholic dioceses ‘end cover-up of clergy abuse,’ release files

FARGO (ND)
Inforum

March 4, 2020

By Patrick Springer

Lawyers representing victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests and other clerics released a report detailing the assignments of priests the church has identified as having been accused of sexual abuse and demanded the public release of church files.

The lawyers released information about the church assignments of 53 priests, deacons and others who face substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor in a news conference on Wednesday, March 4. The Catholic dioceses of Fargo and Bismarck had released the names of the priests and others in January, but did not provide details about which parishes they had served.

The church has a responsibility to release “files pertinent to the histories of each perpetrator to the public and law enforcement,” the lawyers said. Failure to do so, they added, will make the Catholic dioceses of Fargo and Bismarck “complicit in concealing this hazard.”

“There’s still potential dangers to children,” said Michael Bryant, a lawyer from Waite Park, Minn., who spoke at the news conference. “That’s what we’re trying to prevent.”

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