Fill-in Priest Removed from St. Michael’s

By Nathan Hansen
Farmington Independent
January 29, 2015

http://www.farmingtonindependent.com/news/region/3667072-fill-priest-removed-st-michaels

Aretired priest who has been filling in recently at the Church of St. Michael in Farmington has been placed on leave of absence by the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis as part of an investigation into whether he sexually abused a minor in the 1970s.

Father William Stoltzman has presided over two Saturdays and one Sunday service since early October. He is one of several priests filling in while Father Dennis Thompson is on sabbatical.

Stoltzman was ordained in 1971 and served in a number of parishes in Wisconsin and Minnesota. According to documents made public by the Jeff Anderson & Associates law firm, there are letters in which Stoltzman admitted watching adult pornography but denied watching pornography involving children.

In 2008, the Archdiocese received an allegation Stoltzman had sexually abused a minor in the 1970s. Police investigated that claim but there were no criminal charges.

The Archdiocese recently reopened its investigation of the claim.