MINNEAPOLIS (MN)
KSTP TV 5
November 19, 2018
A former Wisconsin priest is accused of preying on several minors who served as altar boys at his churches in the early 1980s, according to details contained in the criminal complaints filed against him.
Thomas Edward Ericksen, 71, was living in Minneapolis and was arrested Friday in Hennepin County after being charged with sexual assault in Wisconsin.
Court records show Ericksen is charged with second-degree sexual assault of an unconscious victim, second-degree sexual assault against a child and first-degree sexual assault against a child. According to Jeff Anderson & Associates, a law firm which represents victims of sexual abuse, Ericksen was ordained in 1973 and worked in Wisconsin parishes until 1988, when he was permanently removed from ministry.
Ericksen left Wisconsin, even left the country and lived in Indonesia for a while. For years, no one knew of his whereabouts. Court records showed he returned to the United States in 2013 and his name was added to the list of predator priests. In 2016, investigators interviewed Ericksen, where he freely admitted to “fondling five boys,” yet was never charged.
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