MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times
Written by
David Unze
The file containing details of the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse by the Rev. Fran Hoefgen likely was destroyed in the 1990s as part of a routine purging of records from cases in which no charges were filed.
Stearns County Attorney Janelle Kendall released two documents Tuesday from the state Department of Administration that showed that numerous adult and juvenile case files in which no charges were filed were ordered destroyed in two document purges, one in May 1996 and the other in February 1998.
Then-County Attorney Roger Van Heel was listed as the person reporting the document destruction to the state in one instance and First Assistant County Attorney Patrick Strom was the reporting party in the other instance.
The county attorney’s office has case files dating back to the 1960s, said Mike Lieberg, head of that office’s criminal division, but those are files in which criminal charges were filed.
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