MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Emily Gurnon and Nick Woltman
Pioneer Press
St. Paul police Chief Thomas Smith said Tuesday that investigators have not gotten cooperation from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on sexual abuse cases.
He told reporter that police have made written and oral requests to talk with archdiocese officials and priests, and “we’ve been told no.”
“We again now publicly call upon these individuals to speak to us,” Smith said.
Smith’s comments came hours after the archdiocese reported that the top official of the Roman Catholic Church in the Twin Cities has been accused of “inappropriate touching” of a boy on the buttocks in 2009.
The allegation was brought to police by a mandated reporter within the church, and has prompted Archbishop John Nienstedt to step aside from his “public ministry” temporarily while an investigation takes place, a Tuesday statement by the archdiocese said.
Nienstedt vehemently denies the charge.
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