James A. Thoennes

Father James A. Thoennes was ordained in 1964 and admitted to molesting at least four people in St. Cloud from the 1960s through the 1980s after a lawsuit was filed against him in 1993. That suit settled prior to trial and Fr. Thoennes was reassigned to new parish.

A second suit was filed in June 2002 by a man who alleged Fr. Thoennes abused him in St. Cloud during the 1960s. The man was a student at the School at Church of St. Anthony of Padua in St. Cloud at the time of the alleged abuse. In January 2009 a third lawsuit was filed against the Diocese of St. Cloud claiming the diocese committed fraud by failing to tell parishioners about allegations of abuse against Fr. Thoennes.