St. John’s Abbey today released personnel files of 18 of its monks who were credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. The documents in the files show that several of these monks were allowed to work at other parishes and dioceses internationally, in the United States and in Minnesota…
News & Events
At a news conference today in St. Cloud, attorney Mike Bryant of Bradshaw & Bryant, co-counsel with Jeff Anderson & Associates, will: Release the priest file of Father Othmar Hohmann, OSB, who worked in several Minnesota dioceses including the Diocese of St. Cloud, Diocese of Duluth and Diocese of Crookston. Additionally, Hohmann worked in North Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and the Bahamas and has been accused…
At a news conference on Wednesday in St. Cloud, attorney Mike Bryant of Bradshaw & Bryant, co-counsel with Jeff Anderson & Associates, will: • Release the priest file of Father Othmar Hohmann, OSB, who worked in several Minnesota dioceses including the Diocese of St. Cloud, Diocese of Duluth and Diocese of Crookston. Additionally, Hohmann worked in North Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin…
At a hearing today, United States Bankruptcy Judge Robert J. Kressel set a May 25, 2016 deadline for creditors, including survivors of childhood sexual abuse, to confidentially file claims in the Diocese of Duluth bankruptcy case. The decision requires all information about survivors of sexual abuse to be kept strictly confidential. “Any survivors out there who are suffering in silence, blaming themselves, can now confidentially get help and take action,” said attorney Mike Finnegan, “But time is…
Children’s Theatre Company,Jason McLean Named in Third Lawsuit (Minneapolis, MN) – A third civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Doe 116 in Hennepin County District Court naming the Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean as defendants. McLean began sexually abusing Doe 116 in 1981 when she was a young teenager and continued to abuse her for several years. Throughout his tenure with Children’s Theatre, McLean worked as a company actor, staff member, and taught acting classes to students. Today, Doe 116 has courageously filed a claim. She has also decided to publicly come for…
(Minneapolis, MN) – A third civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Doe 116 in Hennepin County District Court naming the Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean as defendants. McLean began sexually abusing Doe 116 in 1981 when she was a young teenager and continued to abuse her for several years. Throughout his tenure with Children’s Theatre, McLean worked as a company actor, staff member, and taught acting classes to students.
Today, Doe 116 has courageously filed a claim. She has also decided to publicly come forward so that the full truth of her story can be known. Her name is Me…
Ruling Will Help Protect Children, Expose Diocese’s Protection of AbusivePriests, and Scrutinize Decisions Regarding Allegedly Abusive Priests A lawsuit alleging that the actions of the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre regarding clergy sex abuse constitute a public nuisance will be allowed to proceed in New York Supreme Court in Nassau County. The Diocese of Rockville Centre has refused to release a full list of its priests that have been…
(Minneapolis, MN) – A second civil lawsuit was filed today on behalf of Doe 76, a child sexual abuse survivor, in Hennepin County District Court naming the Children’s Theatre Company and Jason McLean as defendants. McLean began sexually abusing Doe 76 in 1984 when she was 15 years old. McLean was a Children’s Theater company actor at the theater and taught acting classes to students at Children’s Theatre. Last week, the first lawsuit naming Children’s Theatre and McLean as defendants and brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act was filed…
WHAT: At a news conference today in Duluth, attorney Mike Finnegan will discuss today’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing by the Diocese of Duluth. WHEN: Monday, December 7, 2015 at 3:15 PM CSTWHERE: Holiday Inn – Lyric Room 2 200 West First Street Duluth, MN 55802Contact Mike Finnegan: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.205.5531Contact Jeff Anderson: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.817.8665(Duluth, MN) – Today, the Diocese of Duluth filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection. The Diocese of Duluth is the fifteenth Catholic Diocese or Religious Order to file for …
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of two sexual abuse survivors, one abused in approximately 1977 and the other abused in approximately 1983. One of the survivors will speak publicly at the press conference tomorrow, using her name and telling her story.
At a news conference in St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson will release the files of five St. John’s monks accused of sexually abusing children. Files to be released include Richard Eckroth, Thomas Gillespie, Francis Hoefgen, Finian McDonald and Bruce Wollmering. The files were obtained as part of the Troy Bramlage (Doe 2) settlement earlier this year.
At a news conference today in Duluth, sexual abuse attorney Michael Finnegan will announce the public release of secret Diocese of Duluth priest file documents regarding priests credibly accused of sexually abusing children. The documents were introduced into evidence in the Bill Weis vs. Diocese of Duluth civil lawsuit that was recently conducted in Ramsey County…
Spotlight, the movie directed by Thomas McCarthy, chronicles the investigation undertaken by a team of investigative reporters from the Boston Globe. Their investigation uncovered a decades long cover-up of sexually abusive priests by the Archdiocese of Boston. The passion and tenacity of not only the reporters but the others who had already been laboring against the injustice including attorneys, whistleblowing priests and the survivors themselves can be viscerally experienced by the audience. The movie is quite simply one of the most important and compelling films of our ti…
Ramsey County Jury Awards $8.1 Million to Clergy Abuse Survivor
Diocese of Duluth Negligent in Supervising Predator Priest
(St. Paul, MN) – A Ramsey County jury handed down an $8.1 million verdict against the Diocese of Duluth today in a sexual abuse case involving Father J. Vincent Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald sexually abused Plaintiff William Weis in 1978 at St. Catherine’s Church in Squaw Lake, MN, a parish in the Diocese of Duluth.
The jury attributed 60% fault to the Diocese of Duluth and 40% to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a religious order based in St. Paul, MN. Father Fitzgerald was …