MINNESOTA
Mankato Free Press
By Leah Buletti lbuletti@mankatofreepress.com
NEW ULM — Three new priests from the Diocese of New Ulm with ties to Mankato-area parishes have been named in sexual abuse lawsuits.
Revs. Bernard Steiner, Richard Gross and Edward Ardolf have been named in civil lawsuits brought under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, according to Jeff Anderson and Associates, a St. Paul law firm. The law allows survivors of child sexual abuse to bring cases without having to worry about the statute of limitations.
All three priests were ordained in the Diocese of New Ulm in the 1960s and worked at one time in churches in the Mankato area. All three are still alive and had not been named before Friday.
In late March, the Diocese of New Ulm and Jeff Anderson and Associates jointly released the names of 16 priests who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor while assigned as priests.
Mike Finnegan, an attorney with the firm, said the release of the list led to one of the lawsuits, while the firm was in the process of filing the other two when the list was released.
“They’re looking for validation that this happened and to make sure that other people out there know that all three of these guys abused them as kids,” Finnegan said.
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