MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 02/11/2014
A judge has cleared the way for attorneys in a sexual abuse case to take the depositions of Archbishop John Nienstedt, former Vicar General Kevin McDonough and the Rev. John Brown.
Ramsey County District Judge John Van de North also ruled during a hearing Tuesday that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona must disclose the names and other information regarding priests accused of sexual abuse of children since 2004. The information is due to the court by Feb. 18.
Lists of the names of those accused before 2004, compiled as part of a national study, were released in December.
Responding to church attorneys’ concerns that innocent priests would be harmed by the revelations, Van de North ordered the new lists be filed under seal. But they “must be accompanied by a thorough explanation of why public disclosure would be unreasonable,” he said.
A decision will come later as to whether the names should remain secret.
The judge’s pronouncements came in the case of John Doe 1. The Twin Cities man alleged in May that he was sexually abused by Thomas Adamson in 1976 or 1977 when the priest served at St. Thomas Aquinas in St. Paul Park. The plaintiff also alleged that the archdiocese and diocese failed to respond adequately.
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