MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
Madeleine Baran Oct 13, 2015
A priest in Elk River is on leave of absence from ministry after a lawsuit was filed Tuesday accusing him of sexually abusing a teenage boy nearly four decades ago.
The Rev. Antonio Marfori of Elk River’s Church of St. Andrew said he learned of the lawsuit Monday. He said there is “no truth” to the allegation in the lawsuit. “I almost fainted yesterday when they gave me the summons,” Marfori, 63, said.
In a statement, the St. Cloud diocese said Marfori has been removed from priestly duties while the allegation is investigated, adding that “there has been no report of sexual misconduct prior to receiving the present complaint.”
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Stearns County, a man identified as Doe 75 said Marfori “engaged in unpermitted sexual contact” with him in about 1978 when he was about 15 years old.
The man is suing Marfori, the Diocese of St. Cloud and Cathedral High School, where Marfori had been a part-time instructor in the late 1970s. The suit alleges the high school and the diocese were negligent in allegedly failing to protect the boy from Marfori.
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