MINNESOTA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Tuesday, June 9
Statement by Verne Wagner of Duluth, Northeast MN SNAP director ( 218-340-1277, lwagsmn@yahoo.com )
On Friday, the St. Paul archdiocese was charged with six offenses. They stem from accusations that top church officials ignored or hid suspicions and actual reports of sexual misdeeds by a now-convicted predator priest.
Duluth’s current bishop was involved in this alarming case. At this point, no Catholic staff person faces individual charges. But we hope that changes. But Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said there was “a disturbing institutional and systemic pattern of behavior committed by the highest levels of leadership of the archdiocese… over the course of decades.”
And Choi said his investigation is “on-going.” So it’s crucial that more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers keep stepping forward with information or suspicions about clergy sex crimes and cover up anywhere in Minnesota.
We hope prosecutors will pursue Duluth Bishop Paul Sirba for his role in this disturbing crimes of Fr. Curtis Wehmeyer and other Twin Cities abuse cover ups.
According to records – from the church and the St. Paul prosecutor, a priest was concerned about Fr. Wehmeyer’s actions around kids. Here’s how Commonweal, a respected national Catholic publication, reports the story:
“(That priest) contacted the vicar general, then-Fr. Paul Sirba, to see whether he had been in touch with the mother of the boys who camped with Wehmeyer. If Sirba didn’t, he would, the priest warned. Sirba said he would speak with her.
In a September 29, 2009, memo, Sirba informed (Archbishop John) Nienstedt of Wehmeyer’s DUI charge. He explained that Wehmeyer had been under the supervision of the Clergy Review Board, Tim Rourke (the POMS monitor), and his therapist. Nienstedt replied that in fact Wehmeyer was not being supervised by the Clergy Review Board or Rourke. In a memo sent the next day, Sirba told Nienstedt that Wehmeyer “has not been faithful to the program,” and that Bishop (Lee) Piché suggested he speak with (Fr. Kevin) McDonough about the case, because he had worked with Wehmeyer about sexual-boundary issues before. Sirba reported that he was waiting for a return call from McDonough. Prosecutors found no evidence that McDonough replied.
In October, Wehmeyer phoned Nienstedt to apologize for the DUI. Nienstedt wrote in a memo that the cleric seemed repentant. He determined that “this had been a good lesson” for Wehmeyer, and took no disciplinary action against him. Nienstedt would later testify that he never saw the police report, and that no one told him Wehmeyer had been trying to pick up teenagers. He did not read Wehmeyer’s court-ordered chemical health assessment until June 2012—three years after the incident.
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