MINNESOTA
Hibbing Daily Tribune
Posted: Friday, June 5, 2015
by Brian Arola Staff Writer barola@hibbingdailytribune.net
HIBBING — Bishop Paul Sirba of the Diocese of Duluth held a town hall-style meeting with parishioners of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Tuesday to answer questions in the aftermath of sexual misconduct charges levied against the church’s associate pastor in May.
Brian Lederer, the priest charged with five felony counts of sexual conduct on May 7, is currently on administrative leave from the parish. He was expected to appear in St. Louis County Court in Hibbing Thursday, but the hearing was reset to July 23. He has yet to enter a plea.
The hour of question and answer time drew more than 100 individuals to St. Leo’s Hall, with questions ranging from what will happen next for Lederer, to what Assumption School is doing in response to the alleged incidents.
Sirba started out the hour by stating that Lederer’s future status with the church will be dependant upon the court’s determination.
While labelling the allegations as “credible,” he called on parishioners to let the legal process play out before prejudging the case.
“Civil authorities have taken their rightful place in conducting an investigation,” Sirba said. “We still have, by law, the presumption of innocence.”
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