Seminary abuse lawsuits filed involve clergy who abused children in Onamia

MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald

ONAMIA, Minn. — As deadlines near, civil lawsuits were filed Tuesday by two men who were sexually abused as minors by clergy at Crosier Seminary in Onamia near the southern shores of Mille Lacs Lake.

Doe 51 and Doe 56, the names given to the victims in a press release, were molested by multiple priests and brothers of the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (“Crosier”) religious order, according to the lawsuit.

Several of the clergy named in the complaints also interacted with and sexually abused children throughout Minnesota, including at parishes and schools in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, and the Diocese of St. Cloud, said the lawsuit.

Doe 51 was sexually abused from approximately 1979-81 by Father Gerald Funcheon, Brother Gabriel Guerrero and Brother Roman Fleischhacker, when Doe 51 was approximately 15-17 years old, said the lawsuit. Doe 56 was sexually abused in approximately 1979-80 by Funcheon, Brother Wendell Mohs and Father Roger Vaughn, when Doe 56 was approximately 14-15 years old, according to the lawsuit.

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