MINNESOTA
New York Times
By TODD NELSON and MONICA DAVEY
DEC. 18, 2015
ST. PAUL — The Roman Catholic archdiocese here has reached an agreement with prosecutors in a civil case accusing church officials of failing to protect children from sexual abuse.
The unusual settlement, announced Friday in a Ramsey County courtroom, calls for more transparency when claims of child sexual abuse are raised and would allow prosecutors and courts to monitor the church’s progress on such matters for three years.
John J. Choi, the Ramsey County prosecutor, said the most important provision of the settlement was that all allegations of clergy misconduct, including sexual abuse of a child, would be examined by a board made up mostly of lay people. Such boards exist in most dioceses, and most include lay people. But here, one or two clergy members typically determined how to proceed.
The settlement must also be approved by the federal bankruptcy judge overseeing the archdiocese’s reorganization.
In June, Mr. Choi filed six criminal charges, misdemeanors with maximum fines of $3,000 each, accusing the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis of failing to protect children from sexual abuse. Both sides said they were continuing to discuss the charges, which are pending, even as the deal was struck on the civil petition that accompanied them.
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