MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Mar 11, 2014
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi has declined to file charges against Archbishop John Nienstedt, who in December was accused of groping a boy several years ago at a public event.
Choi’s office cited “insufficient evidence” of a crime, according to a news release Tuesday.
• News release: From the Ramsey Co. Attorney’s Office
Nienstedt, leader of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis since 2008, voluntarily stepped aside from public ministry while police investigated the allegation that he touched a boy on the buttocks during a group confirmation photo session in 2009.
The St. Paul Police Department launched its investigation into the allegation in December after an unnamed priest contacted police.
Investigators located a photograph of Nienstedt with the confirmation class, according to a March 11 memo to Choi from Richard Dusterhoft, criminal division director for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office.
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