MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune OCTOBER 3, 2016
The woman who sued an Indian Catholic diocese last year for reinstating the priest who sexually abused her in Minnesota has reached a landmark settlement that she hopes will set a precedent for similar abuse cases nationally.
Megan Peterson had sued the Rev. Joseph Jeyapaul, who was extradited to the United States in 2014 to face criminal charges for sexually abusing her as a teen. He pleaded guilty to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in May 2015 and was deported back to India after serving his one-year sentence.
When she learned that the Vatican approved Jeyapaul’s reinstatement into ministry in India within months of his return, Peterson sued again — this time in federal court against Jeyapaul’s home diocese and to prevent him from contact with children 7,000 miles away.
This week, the Ootacamund diocese agreed to remove Jeyapaul from ministry. Peterson, who was a 14-year-old in the town of Greenbush when she says she was raped and assaulted a decade ago, said she’s appalled that it took a federal court action to stop a convicted sexual abuser from working with children in India.
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