MINNESOTA
Stillwater Gazette
By Jonathan Young
February 17, 2014
A former priest at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Stillwater is on a new list of priests the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis says have been “credibly accused” of sexual abuse of a minor. The list also includes a former pastor at Guardian Angels in Oakdale and St. Francis of Assisi in Lake St. Croix Beach.
On Feb. 17 the archdiocese added nine names to the list of priests “against whom claims of sexual abuse of a minor … have been found to be substantiated.” The archdiocese says it released the nine names in response to an ongoing review of personnel files by Kinsale Management Consulting. The review began in December.
The latest list of names includes Thomas Gillespie, 76, a former priest at St. Mary’s in Stillwater. According to the archdiocese, Gillespie served at St. Mary’s 1978-1986, when he left the archdiocese. The archdiocese says he was removed from ministry in 1996 and currently lives in Collegeville.
Also on the new list is Kenneth LaVan, 82, who served at Guardian Angels in Oakdale (formerly Lake Elmo) 1970-1983 and at St. Francis of Assisi in Lake St. Croix Beach 1983-1985. According to the archdiocese, LaVan retired from full-time ministry in 1998 and now lives in Oakdale. He was removed from all active ministry in December 2013, according to the archdiocese.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.