MINNESOTA
CNN
[with video]
(CNN)A Catholic archdiocese with a landmark legal legacy in child sexual abuse now faces criminal complaints in its handling of them.
In 1983, attorney Jeff Anderson filed a civil case of priest sexual abuse of minors against a U.S. archdiocese in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It opened a floodgate of victims who came forward with clergy sex abuse stories across the country.
On Friday, Ramsey County prosecutor John Choi leveled six counts at the archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. He accused it of encouraging, causing or contributing to the sexual abuse of three victims by a priest in 2010 and 2011.
Each count is a “gross misdemeanor,” and each carries a maximum of one year in prison and/or a $3,000 fine. The complaint focuses on abuse by former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, but it and an accompanying document say his case was just one of many that the archdiocese let slide.
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