ST. LOUIS (MO)
KPLR
JUNE 10, 2014, BY BETSEY BRUCE
(KPLR)- A supporter of Archbishop Robert Carlson has called on him to “clarify” his testimony from a recent deposition in a Minnesota case.
Archbishop Carlson was asked by lawyers for a plaintiff in a sex abuse case from 30 years ago if “you knew it was a crime for an adult to engage in sex with a kid.”
Carlson responded, “I’m not sure if I knew or not, that it was a crime. I understand today it’s a crime.”
Critics have called the testimony “disturbing” and even “unbelievable.” St. Louis Catholic Bill Hannegan provided a statement to FOX2 News Tuesday. He questions the words used by the attorney suggesting the church leader could have “misconstrued” them.
Hannegan said, “ If Archbishop Carlson had been clearly asked whether he knew, back in 1984, that it was a crime for a priest, or any adult, to sexually abuse a child, I believe he would have answered yes, as he did when asked about a specific case elsewhere in the deposition. The actual questions he was asked did not contain the words ‘child’ or abuse,’ and so might have been misconstrued as questions about Minnesota Age of Consent laws. The sexual abuse of children has always and everywhere been a crime. I hope Archbishop Carlson quickly clarifies this confusion.”
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