MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: February 27, 2015
The archdiocese bankruptcy filing has stopped the lawsuits, but the public naming of clergy accused of sexually abusing children is picking up pace.
The bankruptcy filing of the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis has halted lawsuits against accused child sex abusers, but it has not stopped the public release of their names.
Seventeen priests, including such high-profile men as the late Catholic Charities leader Jerome Boxleitner and the late Auxiliary Bishop Leonard Cowley, were recently identified by victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson. The archdiocese also recently added five more names to its website, including the Rev. Freddy Montero, who returned to Ecuador in 2007 while under investigation for criminal sexual conduct.
The names will keep coming under terms of an agreement reached in October between the church and Anderson, and documentation of the incidents will follow.
Already about 180 people have filed abuse complaints with Anderson’s office, served notices of claims, or are in the process of having notices of claims sent on their behalf, said Mike Finnegan, a partner in Anderson’s firm.
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