Twin Cities Archdiocese Admits Wrongdoing in Abuse Coverup

By Tom Corrigan
Wall Street Journal
July 20, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/twin-cities-archdiocese-admits-wrongdoing-in-abuse-coverup-1469053560

Archbishop Bernard Hebda, shown in March, was brought in earlier this year to take the helm of the embattled Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Photo by Leila Navidi

Criminal prosecutors in Minnesota won a rare admission of wrongdoing from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, which conceded it protected a priest who was later convicted of sexually abusing children.

“We failed,” Archbishop Bernard Hebda said Wednesday. “Those children, their parents, their family, their parish and others were harmed. We are sorry. I am sorry.”

The admission is a victory for prosecutors and for clergy abuse victims who have long pressed for a mea culpa from the archdiocese. Acknowledgment of wrongdoing was absent when the archdiocese settled related civil charges last year.

“Today that missing piece has been provided by the archdiocese,” said Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on Wednesday, calling the admission “a solemn moment for our community.”

A spokesman for the county attorney’s office said Wednesday he knew of no other diocese to make such an admission.

The deal announced Wednesday resolves criminal charges against the archdiocese alleging it failed to take actions to safeguard children well after U.S. bishops instituted a new, strict abuse policy in 2002. As part of the deal, the archdiocese acknowledged that it failed to adequately respond to and prevent the abuse of three children, and that it put its own interests and the interests of an abusive priest, Curtis Wehmeyer, ahead of the safety of those children.

Mr. Wehmeyer was arrested in 2012 and charged with multiple felonies. He pleaded guilty and was given a 60-month prison sentence for three felony counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and 17 felony counts of possession of child pornography.

According to Mr. Choi, the archdiocese’s leadership waited years before giving Mr. Wehmeyer standard background checks, neglected to investigate allegations of wrongdoing, and put him in positions of authority even when his abusive behavior was known or could have been discovered.

In return for the admission of wrongdoing and for an expansion of the terms of the earlier settlement, Mr. Choi agreed to dismiss six criminal counts against the archdiocese of failing to protect children, all gross misdemeanors. He was set to release documents from the criminal investigation later Wednesday.

During a news conference Wednesday, Mr. Choi praised Archbishop Hebda, a civil lawyer brought in to take the helm of the embattled archdiocese earlier this year. The archbishop replaced Archbishop John Nienstedt, who resigned last year just days after the criminal charges were brought against the archdiocese. Archbishop Nienstedt wasn’t charged.

The archbishop said he resigned “in order to give the archdiocese a new beginning amidst the many challenges we face.”

“It is my expectation that never again will the facts of this case be repeated,” Mr. Choi said, adding that he expects the protection of children would be of “paramount importance” for the archdiocese going forward.

Archbishop Hebda said Wednesday that “far-reaching changes are under way” and that the archdiocese has added new staff “to help create the safest environments possible.”

When the archdiocese, home to 825,000 parishioners, settled the civil charges late last year, it agreed to improve how it handles clergy sex abuse allegations and to establish more rigorous oversight practices. The settlement subjected the archdiocese to audits and oversight by the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office for three years.

Prosecutors said Wednesday that the archdiocese has agreed to another year of increased oversight as well as other child protection measures.

Mr. Choi said constitutional protections for religious institutions would make it difficult to impose such terms, and that the consensual deal announced Wednesday was a better outcome that would ensure children’s safety.

The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis filed for chapter 11 protection last year to halt several abuse-related lawsuits from going to trial. Multiple efforts to reach a settlement with about 450 abuse victims have since failed, and the bankruptcy has devolved into a contentious—and likely protracted—legal battle over the archdiocese’s assets.

It is unclear how Wednesday’s admission will affect the Twin Cities archdiocese, but legal experts say that for dioceses in bankruptcy in general, admitted criminal activity can complicate potential insurance recovery because intentional or criminal actions are typically excluded by insurance policies.