MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: January 30, 2014
Hours after clearing Archdiocese, Ramsey County officials received a document that is prompting the review.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s office said Thursday it is reviewing documents that appear to indicate that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis failed to report an allegation of child sex abuse within the time frame required by law.
County Attorney John Choi Wednesday announced his office would not file charges against the archdiocese, because it could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that it hadn’t responded in a timely way to abuse allegations against the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, a former St. Paul priest now in prison.
Within hours of that announcement, however, authorities received an archdiocese document that called into question whether the archdiocese acted “immediately.” The document made public by Minnesota Public Radio is a statement by Archbishop John Nienstedt describing a complaint against Wehmeyer days before church officials reported it to police.
“We’re reviewing the documents we received from police,” said Dennis Gerhardstein, spokesman for the county attorney’s office. “It’s new information.”
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