First lawsuit filed under new law to permit later filing of sex abuse civil actions

MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio
May 30, 2013

ST. PAUL, Minn. — St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson has filed the first lawsuit under a new Minnesota law that allows victims of child sexual abuse to bring claims decades later.

The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in Ramsey County District Court on behalf of an unnamed 51-year-old man, accuses the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona of negligence for allowing a known pedophile to continue working with children for years.

The plaintiff, identified as “Doe 1” seeks a court order to force the church to release an internal list of “credibly accused child molesting priests” and accuses the church of creating a public nuisance by keeping the names secret. The man also seeks more than $50,000 from the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis, the Diocese of Winona and former priest and alleged abuser Thomas Adamson.

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