MINNESOTA
Post Bulletin
Kay Fate, kfate@postbulletin.com May 10, 2017
ST. PAUL — A former vicar general for the Diocese of Winona accused of coercion “categorically denies” the claim that he covered up an allegation of clergy sexual assault, according to a statement released by the Diocese of Crookston, where he now is bishop.
Michael Joseph Hoeppner, 67, is the first bishop in the United States to be individually sued for coercion, said Jeff Anderson, a St. Paul attorney who’s represented hundreds of survivors of clergy abuse. The personal injury lawsuit was filed Tuesday.
Hoeppner was vicar general at Winona from about 1998 until being named bishop at Crookston in 2007, church records show.
In 2010, Ron Vasek was exploring the possibility of becoming a deacon in the Catholic Church when he allegedly told Hoeppner he’d been sexually assaulted in about 1971 by Roger Grundhaus.
At the time of the alleged abuse, Grundhaus was a priest at the diocese; he was vicar general of the Crookston diocese from 1991 to 2008.
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