MINNESOTA
Duluth News Tribune

By: Mark Stodghill, Duluth News Tribune

Fifty-five-year-old Michael DeRoche stood on the steps of the St. Louis County Courthouse holding a photograph of a 9- or 10-year old boy standing obediently straight with his hands tucked to his sides and his heels together.

DeRoche said he was that “little guy” and at the time of the photo he was being sexually abused by a Catholic priest of the Diocese of Duluth.

DeRoche said he wanted to put an adult face on that photo and keep any other children from being victimized by priests by bringing the first civil lawsuit filed in St. Louis County by a person alleging abuse under the Minnesota Child Victim’s Act. A new Minnesota law signed by Gov. Mark Dayton last month eliminates the civil statute of limitations for children who were sexually abused and allows a three-year window for past…