Documents reveal extent of sex abuse allegations against Minnesota priests

By Amanda Holpuch
Guardian (UK)
November 25, 2015

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/nov/25/documents-reveal-extent-of-sex-abuse-allegations-against-minnesota-priests

St John’s Abbey said that the documents showed that it ‘did not try to cover up allegations and did a reasonable job of managing the monks and the problem’.

Sex abuse allegations against priests at St John’s Abbey in Minnesota were revealed in stark detail on Tuesday with the release of confidential documents concerning five priests accused of child sex abuse.

Among the psychological evaluations and personal correspondence are documents showing that the Rev Finian McDonald told a therapist that he had sexual encounters with about 200 adults and minors as a priest. Another evaluation shows that the Rev Richard Eckroth admitted to bringing children to a cabin, where he would give massages to naked boys, but denied claims of sex abuse. And the Rev Tom Gillespie’s personnel file shows that he had restricted access to minors after abusing a child in 1978.

The documents were published as victims and their attorneys prepare for the expiration of a state law that temporarily eliminated the statute of limitations for child sex abuse.

“We still need to get our voices out to people who have not come forward,” said Troy Bramlage, who was abused as a teenager.

The files were released as part of a settlement between St John’s Abbey and Bramlage.

It is the first time St John’s Abbey has released confidential documents, which include personal correspondence, personnel files and psychological evaluations by the Catholic mental health center, Saint Luke Institute.

A 22 October 1993 Saint Luke review includes allegations by people who said they were abused by Eckroth. A therapist who interviewed Eckroth concluded: “We therefore believe there is a strong possibility that Father Eckroth has engaged in sexually inappropriate contact with these people.”

Eckroth was admitted to Saint Luke for inpatient treatment, but did not complete the program. Soon after, he went to the Bahamas, where he had founded a church in 1987. He died in May 2015.

The law firm representing Bramlage, Jeff Anderson & Associates law firm, decided which files to publish online. They plan to release files on 14 other priests who are accused of child sex abuse.

In a statement released before the publication of the files, St John’s Abbey said that the documents showed that it “did not try to cover up allegations and did a reasonable job of managing the monks and the problem”.

“There are documents in each file which may be quoted and framed in a lurid context,” the statement read. “But the huge majority of the documents in each of these files acknowledges the very real failures of some monks while showing each of the accused monks as a fallible, relatable person.”

Bramlage said there were “flames coming out of my ears” as he read the statement because it did not give appropriate weight to sex abuse that happened decades ago.

Because of statute of limitations laws, many sex abuse survivors have not been able to file civil or criminal charges against their abusers.

But in May 2013, Minnesota enacted its Child Victims Act, which gives sex abuse survivors an opportunity to file civil action claims against their abusers without a statute of limitations. It expires in May 2016.