MINNESOTA
St Cloud Times
David Unze, dunze@stcloudtimes.com October 24, 2014
A Stearns County judge will decide whether a clergy sex abuse victim can continue to pursue a lawsuit against the Diocese of St. Cloud, including a claim that the diocese is a public nuisance for allegedly not telling the public what it knows about its abusive priests.
A hearing Friday in Stearns County included arguments about the public nuisance allegations used by clergy abuse survivors in the Twin Cities to eventually gain access to thousands of pages of documents on numerous priests.
The lawsuit in Stearns County was filed on behalf of Bob Ethan, who also sued the diocese in 1993 and settled in 1995.
Ethan sued the diocese again after the Legislature passed the Child Victims Act, opening a three-year window for victims to sue in cases that are so old they wouldn’t normally have been allowed to proceed in court.
Ethan was abused by Rev. James Thoennes, a diocesan priest who has been removed from priestly duties by the diocese.
The nuisance claim includes allegations that the public hasn’t been told enough about Thoennes, including that he lives in St. Cloud and the extent of restrictions on where he can go within Minnesota, said Ethan’s attorney, Jeff Anderson.
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