MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
by Madeleine Baran, Minnesota Public Radio,
Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio
November 12, 2013
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Tribal authorities on the Rosebud Sioux reservation in South Dakota are opening a criminal investigation into alleged sexual abuse of several boys and a teenager by the Rev. Clarence Vavra. The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis kept the priest in ministry after he admitted to abuse on the reservation in the 1970s.
MPR News reporter Madeleine Baran talked to All Things Considered host Tom Crann about the potential legal ramifications of Monday’s report.
How are tribal investigators handling this case?
They are first trying to locate the men who Vavra may have abused when they were children. Vavra admitted in a May 1995 psychological evaluation that one of his victims was nine or ten years old at the time. That person would likely now be in his late 40s.
Today, Grace Her Many Horses, the supervisory special agent at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, said that she wants to question Vavra and anyone at the archdiocese who knew about the abuse. Vavra is now retired and lives in New Prague, Minn., halfway between the Twin Cities and Mankato. Her Many Horses said it is likely that she will need to ask the FBI for assistance.
This abuse is said to have taken place in the mid-1970s. Is it still possible to file criminal charges against Vavra?
It depends. The situation is complicated, because it involves a reservation. We don’t have all the information yet. Since this is considered a major crime, tribal authorities can investigate, but they will ultimately turn the case over to the FBI.
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