MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: CHAO XIONG , Star Tribune Updated: October 17, 2014
It’s unclear when the office will issue charging decisions in the three remaining cases.
Ramsey County Attorney John Choi announced Friday that his office has declined to file charges in three criminal cases of alleged clergy sex abuse, that St. Paul police have closed four more cases and that three cases remain open.
Choi said last month that the state’s statute of limitations on bringing charges in such cases involving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis would be a challenge, and confirmed Friday that the statute was the reason his office declined charges on Oct. 3 in three of 10 cases in Ramsey County.
The statute can be a maze to navigate, with several qualifications and exceptions to consider, and Choi said that his office is exploring every possible open door that could allow the filing of criminal charges in the three remaining cases.
St. Paul police closed four cases — involving five suspects — that weren’t presented for prosecutorial review. One case involved two suspects, both of whom are dead. In a second case, the suspect could not be identified. A third case was deemed “not provable.” In the fourth case, the suspect could not be identified.
Police investigated 11 suspects in the 10 cases.
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