Proven Predator Priest Get Extra Pay & No Supervision

SNAP
October 10, 2013

http://www.snapnetwork.org/mn_proven_predator_priest_get_extra_pay_no_supervision

[Minnesota Public Radio]

Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will prod the Twin Cities archbishop to aggressively seek out other victims of two child molesting clerics

--a Catholic brother accused of molesting 80 kids, and

--a priest who was found guilty of abuse by a jury, is still a priest, is unsupervised, lives in a $500,000 home and gets extra payments above his retirement.

They will also urge the archbishop to

-- put all of his child molesting clerics in secure treatment centers and

-- publicly explain why he secretly pays proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics.

WHEN

TODAY, Thursday, Oct. 10, 2013 at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE

Outside the St. Paul-Minneapolis Catholic archdiocesan headquarters (‘chancery office’), 226 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, MN

WHO

Several local concerned Catholics and two victims who belong to a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Minnesota man who was molested by Minnesota’s notorious “Polka Padre”

WHY

1.Yesterday, Minnesota Public Radio disclosed that Fr. Robert Kapoun, who was found guilty of abuse at a trial, is getting paid a monthly "bonus," not being supervised, lives in a $500,000 lakeside home and has not been defrocked.

In a jury found that Fr. Kapoun repeatedly molested Dale Scheffler and awarded Scheffler $1 million. Later, an appellate court overturned the verdict because of the statute of limitations. In what SNAP calls “an extraordinarily cruel move,” archdiocesan officials sent Scheffler a bill for $6,019.10 for its legal expenses. m the archdiocese for its legal expenses.

Meanwhile, records show that Catholic officials let Kapoun retire early and sent him funds above his pension that totaled about $160,000 by 2012. According to MPR, Kapoun got $957.50 every month — plus his regular pension checks of $1,510.50.

Several accused priests who've received payments in addition to regular pension checks, according to two former top church officials. Those payments reportedly total $200,000 to $250,000 a year.

According to MPR, Fr. Kapoun “splits his time between his half-million dollar lakefront property in Cold Spring and a second home in Florida” and is "very happy."

2.SNAP is concerned about another serial child molesting cleric who is accused of molesting more than 80 kids and who took his own life earlier this year.

He is Brother Stephen P. Baker who worked at St. Patrick’s parish in Inver Grove Heights from 1977 to 1981. That’s where he sexually assaulted Doug Larson.

In 2005, church officials paid Larson $50,000 but told no one. As a result, “Baker may have had access to children through the late 2000s,” according to the independent archive group BishopAccountability.org

[link]

SNAP believes there is a good chance that Baker abused more Minnesota kids. The group wants Archbishop John Nienstedt to disclose whether his staff has heard from more of his local victims. SNAP is also challenging Nienstedt to personally visit Baker’s old Inver Grover Heights parish, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to step forward.

Last year, 11 of Baker’s victims settled their cases with the Youngstown diocese and Baker’s direct supervisors. (Both the accusations and the settlements were kept secret by Catholic officials.) Since then, another 69 individuals have reported being victimized by Baker. Many come from the Altoona-Johnstown diocese in Pennsylvania, where Baker worked at a Catholic school. Baker also worked at church facilities in Michigan and Virginia.

Baker belonged to a Catholic religious order called the Third Order Regular Franciscans. (Often, bishops try to distance themselves from religious order sex offender clerics. But such clerics work in a diocese only with the bishop’s approval. And in Ohio, the local bishop paid 30% of the settlements with Baker victims, which proves that bishops are at least partially responsible for harm done by religious order clerics in their dioceses.)

[Baker’s photo and work history are here]

Fr. Kapoun spent time in these Minnesota towns: Montgomery (1964-67), Minneapolis (1967-71), Crystal Village (1971-74), St. Paul (1974-76), Cedar Lake (1977-84), Spring Lake (1977-84), Heidelberg (1984-86), Lexington (1984-96), St. Thomas (1991-96), and Cold Spring (1998-2001).

[His photo and detailed work history is here]

Both victims –Scheffler and Larson - are represented by St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson (651 227 9990, 612 817 8665 cell, jeff@andersonadvocates.com)

CONTACT

David Clohessy (314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)