MINNESOTA
InForum
CROOKSTON, Minn.—A Catholic priest accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy on the Red Lake Reservation in 2008 has been removed from his present assignment as a pastor at St. Elizabeth Church in Dilworth and St. Andrew’s Church in Hawley, according to a Crookston Diocese official.
Jeff Anderson & Associates, a St. Paul law firm representing the boy, notified church officials Friday that the boy was accusing the Rev. Patrick Sullivan of sexual misconduct and was planning to sue the diocese, said Monsignor Mike Foltz, vicar general of the diocese.
Foltz said that when the diocese learned of the allegation, Sullivan was placed on administrative leave. “That means he cannot function as a priest until this is resolved,” Foltz said, adding that the church plans to investigate the matter.
Sullivan denies any wrongdoing, Foltz said. Sullivan has been a pastor in Dilworth and Hawley for seven years, and he previously spent 12 years as a priest in Red Lake, the vicar general said.
Mike Finnegan, the boy’s attorney, said the abuse happened at St. Mary’s Mission Church in Red Lake. Finnegan declined to divulge details of the abuse.
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