MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Lawsuit alleges church officials knew priest abused children as early as 1969; kept him in ministry
[lawsuit and documents – Jeff Anderson and Associates]
by Laura Yuen, Minnesota Public Radio
November 7, 2013
ST. PAUL, Minn. — A new lawsuit alleges that top officials in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis allowed a priest to continue working with children despite reports that he sexually abused children as early as 1969.
The Rev. Jerome Kern was a “serial offender” who abused victims at three parishes over his 35 years in ministry, according to the lawsuit, filed by St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson.
In a lawsuit filed Thursday morning against Kern and the archdiocese, Anderson’s client — a man in his 50s named in court records as “Doe 26” — alleges Kern sexually abused him in the 1970s when the alleged victim was 12 to 16 years old. Despite numerous reports to archdiocesan officials over the years, the Catholic church moved Kern from parish to parish rather than barring him from ministry, Anderson said.
“Promises were made to the moms and to the kids that something would be done and he would be removed,” Anderson said. “Instead, those promises were broken.”
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