(UPDATED) Accusation: Archbishop Nienstedt Inappropriately Touched Boy

MINNESOTA
Patch

Posted by Chris Steller (Editor) , December 17, 2013

Updated below. Archbishop John Clayton Nienstedt is stepping aside from his ministerial duties pending an investigation into a new charge that he inappropriately touched a boy in 2009, the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis said in a statement Tuesday.

See the full statement from the archdiocese and letter from the archbishop below, as well as a response from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Nienstedt “emphatically denies the allegation,” the statement said. The accuser “believes I inappropriately touched his buttocks during a public photo session,” Nienstedt wrote in a letter posted at the archdiocese website.

The archdiocese recently released a list of priests “credibly accused” of child sexual abuse. The Winona diocese also released its its own similar list.

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