CROOKSTON (MN)
ChurchMilitant
November 21, 2017
By David Nussman
Bishop denies allegations, made settlement to save money
CROOKSTON, Minn. (ChurchMilitant.com) – A practicing Catholic is accusing his diocese of trying to cover up priestly sex abuse.
Ron Vasek was on the way to becoming a permanent deacon in 2011 when he started opening up about his victimization as a child. The abuse incident occurred in 1971, but Vasek had mostly been quiet about it — as sex abuse victims often are — until his time in seminary training for the permanent diaconate.
In October 2015, Bp. Michael J. Hoeppner of Crookston, Minnesota met with Vasek privately and allegedly coerced him into pledging never to file a lawsuit about the abuse.
But in May this year, Vasek filed a civil suit against the diocese, accusing it of a cover-up. The seven charges in the ongoing civil suit fall under three claims: coercion, negligence and nuisance.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.