Author, St. Paul Attorney Promote Book on Priest Sex-abuse Scandal

By Emily Gurnon
Pioneer Press
April 18, 2013

http://www.twincities.com/crime/ci_23056082/author-st-paul-attorney-promote-book-priest-sex

Michael D'Antonio

The author of a new book about the priest sexual-abuse scandal is scheduled to appear in the Twin Cities on Friday and Saturday, April 19 and 20, along with St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson.

Anderson is one of two men whose paths converge in Michael D'Antonio's "Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal."

Anderson, 65, is the church outsider in the book -- a Stillwater resident who has made his living suing the Catholic Church on behalf of people who allege assaults by clergy.

In his early days as a lawyer, D'Antonio writes, Anderson was infamous for parties "that would put a rock band to shame." Anderson's drug- and alcohol-fueled antics included, on one occasion, jumping onto a windowsill, howling with laughter and then "pissing on the sidewalk below."

But Anderson emerges as a fierce crusader for the victims he represents. A lawsuit he filed in 1984 on behalf of the parents of a young boy "touched off a legal war of historic and global proportions," according to the book.

Working from inside the crisis at the time was the Rev. Thomas Doyle. A young monsignor assigned to the Vatican embassy in Washington, D.C., in the 1980s, Doyle warned church officials to face the burgeoning sex-abuse problem squarely and openly.

The church ignored him, D'Antonio writes.

D'Antonio was part of a group of Newsday reporters who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for their coverage of the "Baby Jane Doe" case, a bitter legal battle over parents' obligations to

provide medical care for a girl with severe mental and physical handicaps. He went on to write "Atomic Harvest" and "The State Boys Rebellion." D'Antonio also has written for Esquire, New York Times Magazine and Sports Illustrated.

IF YOU GO

WHAT: Book signings featuring Michael D'Antonio, author of "Mortal Sins: Sex, Crime and the Era of Catholic Scandal" and St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson

WHEN AND WHERE: Friday, April 19, 4 to 6 p.m., Kelley Boardroom, William Mitchell College of Law, 875 Summit Ave., St. Paul (free valet parking available)

Jeff Anderson

Contact: egurnon@pioneerpress.comtwincities.com