MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JON TEVLIN , Star Tribune Updated: October 5, 2013
In 2008, Archbishop John Nienstedt welcomed attorney Jennifer Haselberger as his new chancellor for canonical affairs, calling the College of St. Catherine graduate and London University Ph.D. “studious, thoughtful and extremely well prepared.”
By last week a lawyer for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis called Haselberger unsophisticated and imprudent.
These diverging opinions of Haselberger bookended a startling yet predictable case that began at a church rummage sale, included allegations of child porn hidden in a vault, and ended up in a St. Paul court last week. The whole thing reads like a Dan Brown novel.
The allegations were contained in a police report that surfaced on Ramsey County Court last week.
Attorney and church critic Jeff Anderson said the document revealed a possible cover-up. Haselberger claims she is a whistleblower who stumbled upon the child porn while doing a background check on a priest. She said in a police report that she personally provided evidence of the illegal porn to the Rev. Peter Laird, the vicar general, and even to Nienstedt himself, and that they ignored it.
The church said they found no child porn and no one did anything wrong. Yet, Laird resigned Thursday.
After church officials ignored her, Haselberger also called authorities. But by the time they paid a visit to the rectory, the computer was missing and three CDs in the vault contained only legal pornography. Haselberger told Minnesota Public Radio that the priest in question had smashed one computer with a hammer.
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