MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
[with audio]
Madeleine Baran St. Paul, Minn. Jul 2, 2014
Archbishop John Nienstedt, who has led his archdiocese’s response to the clergy sexual abuse scandal for nearly a year, confirmed in a statement Tuesday that he ordered a private investigation into unspecified allegations against himself.
Nienstedt said the allegations “do not involve minors or lay members of the faithful, and they do not implicate any kind of illegal or criminal behavior” and “involve events alleged to have occurred at least a decade ago, before I began serving in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.”
He called the claims “absolutely and entirely false.” He didn’t say how much the months-long investigation cost or who paid for it.
An archdiocese lawyer told Ramsey County Attorney John Choi in March that the private investigation involved claims of “sexual conduct with an adult,” according to a spokesperson for the Ramsey County Attorney’s Office. The spokesman said the archdiocese did not provide the name of the adult.
One person interviewed in the investigation — former archdiocese chancellor and whistleblower Jennifer Haselberger — said she was asked about Nienstedt’s interactions with the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer, a priest who is now in prison for child sexual abuse and possession of child pornography.
MPR News reported in September that Nienstedt knew of Wehmeyer’s sexual interest in younger men but kept him in ministry and did not disclose the information to parish employees. Wehmeyer later admitted to sexually abusing two sons of a parish employee.
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