MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: February 17, 2014
All but one case involves incidents 25-50 years ago, archdiocese said in a statement.
Nine more priests who sexually abused minors were named Monday morning by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
“In all but one case, the incidents occurred 25-50 years ago and all of the clergy involved have been out of ministry in the archdiocese for many years, in most cases for decades,” said a statement announcing the list. “Of the nine men disclosed today, three are known to be deceased.”
The disclosures were announced as part of the review of clergy files the archdiocese commissioned after allegations of clergy misconduct escalated last fall, along with criticism of the archdiocese’s handling of abuse cases.
The statement said that two of the cases became known after the archdiocese compiled its list of credibly accused priests for the John Jay review in 2004. One involved incidents from the 1950s.
The priests named Monday are:
Robert Blumeyer: Permanently removed from ministry in 1983 (died in 1983).
Gerald Funcheon: Permanently removed from ministry in 1993.
Kenneth Gansmann: Permanently removed from ministry from our archdiocese in 1960 (died, date unknown).
Thomas Gillespie: Permanently removed from ministry in 1996.
Michael Kolar: Permanently removed from ministry in 1991.
Kenneth LaVan: Retired from full time ministry in 1998. Removed from all active ministry December 2013.
Francisco (Fredy) Montero: Permanently removed from ministry from our archdiocese in 2007.
James Stark: Permanently removed from ministry in 1986 (died in 1999).
Harold Walsh: Permanently removed from ministry in 2005.
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