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Diocese of Winona Releases List of 14 Priests Accused of Child Abuse

The Winona Daily News
December 16, 2013

http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/article_723da370-666e-11e3-b3b8-0019bb2963f4.html?comment_form=true

The Diocese of Winona office in Winona.



[the list]

The Diocese of Winona released a list today of 14 priests who have been credibly accused of child sexual abuse.

Those on the list have worked at 45 parishes in 44 cities across southern Minnesota. All but five are deceased, and some have not been active in the diocese for decades. Some of the priests were suspended and then defrocked, while others left the diocese voluntarily or died before any formal action was taken.

On the list is Thomas Adamson, a priest whose name has already been publicly linked to accusations of abuse. He was ordained in 1958 and served in Winona diocese parishes until 1975, when he was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Adamson, now believed to be living in Rochester, was suspended in 1984 and defrocked in 2009. He was barred last year from all diocese parishes and schools. 

One of the five living priests on the list, Joseph C. Cashman, declined to comment Monday when reached at his home in Dallas, Texas. The others have either not been able to be reached or have not responded to requests for comment.

“This morning is a very difficult morning,” said Diocese of Winona bishop John Quinn. “It is a time for healing, a time for truth.”  

“I never want this to happen again.”

Quinn, who took charge of the Winona Diocese in December 2008, said he was not personally familiar with all of the allegations lodged against the priests on the list, and that since the information is part of an ongoing legal procedure, he could not comment on specific accusations made against any of the 14 that are not already part of the public record.

“We will cooperate fully in any investigation,” Quinn said, adding that “the diocese is fully committed to the protection of children and to healing the damage done to victims of abuse.

“Hope for the healing that can come for all victims,” Quinn said. “I hope to help in that healing and I sincerely apologize to them.”

Attorney Mike Finnegan, of Jeff Anderson and Associates, PA, representing an abuse victim in the case,  called the release of the names “a first step” in an ongoing struggle to hold the diocese accountable for acts committed by clergy.

He said the next step will be the release of all documents related to the accusations made against them. These are the files that show “what the bishops knew and when they knew it, and what they did to conceal child sex abuse in the diocese,” Finnegan said.

He said that requests have been formally made for the release of the documents held by the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Bishop Quinn and Archbishop John Nienstedt have 30 days from receiving the requests to respond.

Barbara Dorris, the outreach director for SNAP -- Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests -- released a statement Monday also calling on Quinn to turn over all internal documentation on the people on the list, as well as order them to be put in a treatment center, and pay personal visits to each parish where they worked.

"Let no one breathe a sigh of relief today," she said. "Let no one misunderstand what's happening in Winona. This is not reform. It's simply a bishop obeying a court order so he won't get in trouble."

The list includes the following names below. All details and dates are from the list the diocese released. The details below primarily focus on parishes in the Winona area; for the complete records of each priest, follow the link to the above right or click here.

THOMAS P. ADAMSON, 1933-

Adamson was ordained in 1958 and served briefly in the Winona area, at Saint Casimir and Cotter High School from 1958-1961, as well as at St. John's in Caledonia from 1963 to 1964. He also served a number of other parishes across the diocese. He was suspended in 1984 and defrocked in 2009.

Read more about Adamson by clicking here.

SYLVESTER F. BROWN, 1930-2010

Brown was ordained in 1956. He served at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary and Saint Mary's College during much of the 1960s. He was never suspended.

JOSEPH C. CASHMAN, 1934-

Cashman was ordained in 1960. He served at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart until 1963, then at parishes in Rochester and Mankato until 1985, when he started at Saint Mary's in Caledonia. His ministerial privileges were suspended in 1992, with defrocking pending; he now lives in Dallas, Texas, and declined a request for comment on Monday.

LOUIS G. COOK, 1924-2004

Cook was ordained in 1958. He served at a number of Winona-area parishes: Saint Mary's in Winona from 1958-1962; at the College of Saint Teresa for less than a year from 1969-1970; Crucifixion in La Crescent from 1976-1982; Holy Trinity in Rollingstone from 1982-1990; and St. Charles Borromeo in St. Charles from 1990-2000. He was never suspended.

Cook died of a heart attack in Honduras 2004. Read his obituary here.

WILLIAM D. CURTIS, 1919-2001

Curtis was ordained in 1947. He served at Saint Thomas Pro Cathedral from 1947-1950; Saint Lawrence O'Toole in Fountain and Saint Kilian in Wykoff from 1952-1953, then again from 1953-1956; and Saint Peter in Hokah from 1965 to 1966. His ministerial privileges were suspended in 1990.

JOHN R. FEITEN, 1924-2001

Feiten was ordained in 1948. He served at the Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona from 1950-1957; Precious Blood in La Moille from 1957-1967; Saint Peter in Hokah from 1973-1974; St. Felix in Wabasha from 1982-1983; Immaculate Conception in Kellogg from 1983-1988; Saint Elizabeth Hospital in Wabasha from 1988-1994; and Saint Anne Hospice from 1994 until he retired in 2000. He was never suspended.

Feiten died in Wabasha in 2001. Read his obituary here.

RICHARD H. HATCH, 1927-2005

Hatch was ordained in 1954 and served for an unknown amount of time at Saint Mary's in Winona beginning in 1962. He voluntarily quit his ministerial duties and left the diocese at some point in the 1960s.

FERDINAND L. KAISER, 1910-1973

Kaiser was ordained in 1937. He served Saint Agnes in Kellogg from 1937-1938; Saint Felix in Wabasha from 1938-1941; Saint John's in Caledonia from 1941-1943. He voluntarily resigned from the diocese in March 1968.

JACK L. KROUGH, 1949-

Krough was ordained in 1976. He was assigned to Cotter High School in 1980 and left in 1985 for Lourdes High School in Rochester. His ministerial privileges were suspended in 2002 and he is now believed to be living in Barron, Wis.

MICHAEL J. KUISLE, 1916-1971

Kuisle was ordained in 1940. He was assigned to Saint Mary's in Winona from 1940-1943; Saint Joseph in Rushford, Saint Mary's in Houston and Saint Patrick in Ridgeway from 1947-1954; Saint Peter's in Hokah from 1956-1965; and the Church of the Crucifixion in La Crescent from 1965-1970. He resigned from the diocese in September 1971 and died two months later.

JAMES W. LENNON, 1939-2000

Lennon was ordained in 1965 and assigned to the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart until 1968. He served at Saint Stan's and Cotter High School from 1972-1976; Saint Mary's in Minneiska briefly in 1976; Saint Aloysius in Elba from 1976-1977; and Saint Anthony in Altura for three months in 1977. He left active ministry in June 1984.

Lennon died in 2000. Read his obituary here.

LELAND J. SMITH, 1927-

Smith was ordained in 1953 and served in several parishes in the Winona area. They include Holy Trinity in Rollingstone from 1968-1975; St. Charles Borromeo from 1975-1983; St. Joseph in Rushford and St. Mary's in Houston from 1983-1989; and St. Joachim in Plainview; Immaculate Conception in Kellogg from 1989-1991; and St. Agnes in Kellogg from 1991-1992. His ministerial privileges were indefinitely suspended in 1994. He is believed to be living in Winona.

ROBERT H. TAYLOR, 1930-2012

Taylor was ordained in 1956. He served at Saint Stan's and Cotter High School from 1960-1961; Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary and Saint Mary's College from 1961-1969; Holy Cross in Dakota from 1969-1982; and Precious Blood in La Moille from 1970-1982. He was suspended in February 1995.

He died in Souix Falls, S.D. Read his obituary here.

LEO CHARLES KOPPALA, 1966-

The diocese released Koppala's name Monday in response to a second order from the judge to make public any names of priests credibly accused of child sexual abuse since 1994. Koppala entered the diocese in 2008 from India and served parishes in Blue Earth and Winnebago, Minn., before being placed on administrative leave in June 2013 pending the outcome of criminal charges in Faribault County for sexually abusing a minor.






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