MINNESOTA
KAAL
[with video]
By: Joe Augustine
The Archbishop says filing for bankruptcy protection is the best way for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis to fairly address victims of sexual abuse. An attorney representing more than a hundred alleged victims says filing for bankruptcy is a necessity.
Patrick Noaker says bankruptcy allows the church to keep its failures in the shadows.
“I don’t know if this process is going to be good for victims,” Noaker said Friday, shortly after the archdiocese filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Noaker represents John Doe 104, a 54-year-old man from Minneapolis who claims he was sexually abused by Rev. Thomas Stitts from 1972 to 1974.
Doe 104 would have been the first alleged victim of sexual abuse to go to trial since the Minnesota Child Victim’s Act made cases like this possible.
The law was passed by the state legislature in May 2013. It established a three year window for survivors of childhood sexual abuse to file civil claims outside the old statute of limitations. The window closes May 24, 2016.
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