MINNESOTA
Minnesota Lawyer
By: Patrick Thornton July 2, 2014
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis hired the Greene Espel law firm in Minneapolis to investigate accusations made against Archbishop John Nienstedt of inappropriate sexual conduct.
In fact Nienstedt ordered the investigation.
The firm has been working on the investigation since early this year and has interviewed current and former archdiocese employees including Jennifer Haselberger, the former top canon lawyer for the diocese who resigned in 2013 and then blew the whistle on the way the church ignored sexual abuse allegations leveled against current and former priests.
Nienstedt has denied the current allegations that he says do not involve “minors or lay members of the faithful, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behavior.” They also date back to a decade before he was installed as archbishop, he said.
Reports say there could be as many as 10 statements of sexual allegations against Nienstedt.
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