MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
Former archdiocesan deputy reveals reluctance to talk to investigators
By Richard Chin
rchin@pioneerpress.com
A former top official in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis — described by lawyers suing the church as the person who knows the most about child sex abuse allegations in the archdiocese — has avoided talking to police and his church’s own child abuse investigation panel, according to sworn testimony released Thursday.
In a deposition of the Rev. Kevin McDonough, former vicar general, McDonough said he regretted deeply that the church previously had “an outdated and now clearly dangerous assumption” that child-abusing priests could be rehabilitated, and he regretted how some older cases of alleged abuse were handled.
“But I think this diocese was a real leader and worked very hard to — to protect children,” said McDonough, in a transcript of the April 16 deposition.
“I feel good about the work that we were doing already by the early 1990s,” McDonough said.
But lawyers for an alleged abuse victim suing the church said McDonough’s 6 1/2 hours of testimony showed a pattern similar to one employed by accused abusers themselves — denying and minimizing accusations and blaming others.
Plaintiff’s attorney Mike Finnegan called McDonough a “master of half-truths” who helped cover up allegations of priest child abuse, putting “countless” children at risk.
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