KANSAS CITY (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
December 3, 2024
By Nassim Benchaabane
ST. LOUIS — One of the dozens of people suing the Catholic church here over allegations of sexual abuse has dismissed his claim that a man believed to be a Kansas City deacon abused him at a St. Louis-area church in the 1980s.
Kansas City church officials, however, said Tuesday that the deacon, Ralph Wehner, remains suspended from ministry amid an investigation into the claim.
The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph put Wehner on a “precautionary suspension” in August after an advocacy group raised concerns he was the same “Ralph Wehner” accused of abuse here in a lawsuit filed against the Archdiocese of St. Louis days earlier.
The lawsuit was one of five against the archdiocese accusing church officials of covering up abuse by dozens of clergy and staff from the 1940s to as recently as 2015. One plaintiff alleged a “Brother Ralph Wehner” groped and fondled him while he was a teen boy on at least three occasions in the early 1980s at St. Alban Roe church in Wildwood.
Wehner, a deacon at Our Lady of Good Counsel in Kansas City, was suspended after the Missouri chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, an advocacy group, raised concerns he was the same man accused of abuse in St. Louis. Wehner moved to the Kansas City diocese in 2009 but is a St. Louis native, according to his official biography.
The plaintiff in the case, identified only by initials, recently voluntarily dismissed the claim, according to online court records.
His attorney, D. Todd Mathews, said in an email Tuesday that his client dismissed the case for “personal reasons” but did not disclose more details.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis declined to comment.
The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph tried to investigate the claim “but the claimant has not been willing to cooperate,” spokeswoman Ashlie Hand said in an email.
Hand said Wehner remains suspended from ministry “until our ombudsman presents his findings, or lack thereof, to our Internal Review Board for its recommendation.”
But David Clohessy, SNAP’s Missouri director, criticized church officials for failing to address the concerns for months. He called on church leaders in both Kansas City and St. Louis to review diocesan records and appeal to clergy and parishioners for information to help the investigation.
“It’s upsetting that they have taken so long and remained so secretive about this,” Clohessy said. “The bishop or archbishop should go to every parish where Wehner worked or spent time and beg for anyone with information that might prove, or disprove, the allegation, to come forward.”
Clohessy said he did not know why the plaintiff alleging abuse by “Ralph Wehner” chose to dismiss the claim.
But victims of sex abuse who pursue legal action against perpetrators can often face renewed emotional and psychological turmoil because they revisit the trauma, he said.
“There can be tons of reasons why someone suspends or withdraws an abuse report,” he said. “The most common reason is that many survivors find the process pretty stressful and feel like it’s emotionally and psychologically safer for them to not move forward with legal action, which is very sad but totally understandable.”
St. Louis County reporter