MINNESOTA
WKBN
by: Adam Ferrise – Online News Manager
A Minnesota man who was awarded a $50,000 settlement in 2005 from the Third Order Regular Franciscans after he told religious officials in St. Paul, Minn., that he was abused by Brother Stephen Baker said Friday he experienced anger and relief when he heard Baker committed suicide Saturday by stabbing himself in the heart.
Douglas Larson, 49, of St. Cloud, Minn., said Friday in a phone interview that he felt he found closure when Baker committed suicide. Victims of sexual abuse are normally unnamed, but Larson said his name should be used because he has nothing to hide and did nothing wrong.
“This is a chapter in my book that is closed,” said Larson, who is battling diminishing eyesight that forced him to retire from his structural drafting career. “He can’t do anything to me or anybody else.”
St. Paul, Minn. attorney Jeff Andersen, a clergy sexual abuse expert civil litigator who said he’s won clergy sex abuse cases in nine states, including for Larson against Baker, confirmed the settlement.
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