In what has become a tragically routine turn of events, another credibly accused priest has been sheltered from justice by Catholic hierarchs. Indeed, an accused priest, Father Carlos Urrutigoity, was promoted to vicar general of the Diocese of Eastern Paraguay’s Ciudad del Este following accusations of sex abuse in three other locations. One of these was the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota.Urrutigoity was ordained as a member of the rigidly traditionalist Society of St. Pius X in the Diocese of Winona in 1989. But far from having a promising start to his career as a priest…
News & Events
Archbishop Emeritus Harry Flynn’s sworn testimony, taken May 14, 2014, has been released publicly. Flynn’s deposition was taken in a civil lawsuit involving a man sexually abused in the 1970s by former priest Thomas Adamson. The entire deposition transcript and video clips are available at http://www.andersonadvocates.com. A DVD copy of the video deposition is also available at our office…
Click Here for Harry Flynn Deposition Transcript 05-14-2014 Clips from Flynn’s Deposition </iframe
The issue of clergy sexual abuse was addressed on an international scale last Friday when the United Nations Committee on the Convention Against Torture issued a seething review of the Holy See’s yearly report. The Committee found that Vatican officials failed to properly report child sex abuse charges, shuffled priests to different dioceses rather than disciplining them, and failed to pay adequate compensation to survivors of child sex abuse.As a party to the Convention Against Torture (CAT) since 2002, the Holy See has a legal obligation to take international responsibility for its…
Deposition of Fr. Peter Laird Deposition
(St. Paul, MN) – The sworn testimony of the Archdiocese’s former Vicar General Father Peter Laird has been publicly released by attorneys as a part of a civil lawsuit filed in 2013 in Ramsey County; Doe 1 vs. the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis, Diocese of Winona and Father Thomas Adamson. “Father Laird’s deposition raises serious questions about Archbishop Nienstedt…
Doe 1 Depo of Peter Laird 05-12-2014
The need for vigilance in protecting children from sexual abuse was again underscored by reports of abuse at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus school. St. Paul Public Schools…
A Dorchester County jury awarded teacher and former Assistant Principal of Knightsville Elementary School, Mary Rita Watson a $1,000,000 verdict in a civil lawsuit filed on her behalf involving an incident that occurred at the school in 2009. Attorney Gregg Meyers of Jeff Anderson & Associates, a Minnesota-based law firm specializing in cases of child sexual abuse with an offic…
HASTINGS, Minn. (KMSP) – Former Rev. Francis Hoefgen was charged Wednesday in Dakota County with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in connection with allegations he sexually abused a former altar boy.The alleged abuse occurred from the spring of 1989 to the fall of 1991 when the boy was 9 to 12 years old. The victim brought the allegations to Hastings police in November 2013, telling investigators he was sexually abused by Hoefgen multiple times as a student and altar boy at St. Boniface Church and school.Hoefgen, now 63, began serving as a priest in the St. Boniface Church in…
At a news conference on Monday in St. Paul former priest and monk Patrick Wall, along with attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant, will: · Release the files of five St. John’s monks accused of sexually abusing children who worked in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Files to be released include Rober…
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – A priest who was convicted of fondling a 12-year-old girl while he was working in the Diocese of Winona has been deported to his native India.Officials with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement say 48-year-old Leo Charles Koppala was turned over to authorities in New Delhi on Wednesday.Koppola was charged last June with second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He pleaded guilty in March, admitting he fondled the girl while eating dinner at her grandmother’s house.
A third lawsuit filed against Shattuck-St. Mary’s accuses officials at the boarding school in Faribault, Minn., of failing to protect students from a teacher after hearing reports of his sex games and abuse.The suit, filed Tuesday in Rice County, claims that Lynn P. Seibel — a former drama teacher and “dorm parent” — sexually abused the unnamed plaintiff from 2000 to 2001.Seibel, 72, pleaded guilty in July to seven criminal, felony counts for molesting six male students between 1999 and 2003. In October 2013, he was sentenced to 52 months in prison.This week’s lawsuit, filed in Rice County Dis…
A third lawsuit filed against Shattuck-St. Mary’s accuses officials at the boarding school in Faribault, Minn., of failing to protect students from a teacher after hearing reports of his sex games and abuse.The suit, filed Tuesday in Rice County, claims that Lynn P. Seibel — a former drama teacher and “dorm parent” — sexually abused the unnamed plaintiff from 2000 to 2001.Seibel, 72, pleaded guilty in July to seven criminal, felony counts for molesting six male students between 1999 and 2003. In October 2013, he was sentenced to 52 months in prison.This week’s lawsuit, filed in Rice County…