MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio

Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Jun 9, 2014

St. Louis archbishop Robert Carlson — who served in the Twin Cities for 24 years — testified last month that he wasn’t sure whether he knew it was illegal for priests to have sex with children when he served as chancellor of the Twin Cities archdiocese in the 1980s, according to a transcript released Monday.

The former chancellor also said he couldn’t recall reporting abuse to police while here from 1970 to 1994.

Carlson, 69, testified as part of a lawsuit that alleges the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona created a public nuisance by keeping information on abusive priests secret. The man who filed the suit claims he was sexually abused by the Rev. Thomas Adamson in the 1970s.

The case has already forced the depositions of Archbishop John Nienstedt,…