Document Suggests Archbishop Slow to Report Alleged Abuse

By Jennie Olson
KSTP
January 28, 2014

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S3304419.shtml

Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer

A church document suggests the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese waited two days to tell police of sexual abuse allegations against a priest.



The document obtained by Minnesota Public Radio is a decree signed by Archbishop John Nienstedt in 2012. MPR says it shows the Archdiocese knew about allegations against the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer on June 18. But police reports show the archdiocese didn't report the claims to police until two days later. The law generally requires a priest to report suspected child abuse within 24 hours.



The revelation came after Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said he would not file any charges for failure to report Wehmeyer's abuse to police. Choi now says he's taking another look.



An archdiocese spokeswoman says the document could be misinterpreted.

Also, the law office of Jeff Anderson and Associates on Thursday announced the filing of a civil lawsuit on behalf of a youth who was abused by Wehmeyer at the Church of the Blessed Sacrament in St. Paul, according to lawyers. The lawsuit alleges the archdiocese knew that Wehmeyer posed a risk to kids and failed to protect the victim.