Let us be heard’: Belcourt woman sues Fargo Diocese, priest accused of sexually assaulting her

FARGO (NORTH DAKOTA)
InForum

July 11, 2019

By April Baumgarten

A Belcourt, N.D., woman has filed a civil suit against the Catholic Diocese of Fargo and a priest who she says sexually assaulted her three years ago.

Kateri Marion, 33, held back tears Thursday, July 11, during a news conference in Fargo as her attorneys laid out allegations against the Rev. Michael Wight, a Texas priest who, according to Marion, groomed her before sexually abusing her in mid-2016. She told the Fargo Diocese about the abuse, but she claims church leaders ignored her and blamed her for what allegedly happened.

“I can’t tell you how scared I was when I came forward,” she said at the news conference held at the law offices of O’Keeffe O’Brien Lyson Foss. “When I came forward, they left me in despair to pick up the pieces myself.”

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