Lawsuit expected against St. John’s Abbey, priest

MINNESOTA
St. Cloud Times

Written by
David Unze

ST. PAUL — A press conference has been scheduled for Tuesday morning in St. Paul to announce the filing of a clergy sex abuse lawsuit against a former St. John’s Abbey priest.

The lawsuit names as defendants the Rev. Fran Hoefgen, St. John’s Abbey, the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and St. Luke Institute, a renowned treatment facility in Baltimore.

The lawsuit is being filed on behalf of a 30-year-old Minnesota man who accuses Hoefgen of sexually abusing him at a Hastings parish where Hoefgen was assigned after being sent to St. Luke for evaluation.

Hoefgen before that had served at a Cold Spring parish, where he was accused of sexually abusing a boy. That accusation led to his evaluation at St. Luke. No criminal charges were filed against Hoefgen.

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