HAYWARD (WI)
Sawyer County Record
November 17, 2018
By Terrell Boettcher
In charges filed Friday, Nov. 16, the Sawyer County District Attorney’s office is accusing a former parish priest at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Winter with sexually abusing altar boys while he was stationed in Winter in 1982 and 1983.
Thomas Edward Ericksen, 71, now residing in Minneapolis, is charged with first-degree felony sexual abuse of a boy under the age of 12 from June 1, 1982, through April 1, 1983, in the village of Winter; second-degree felony sexual assault of a 14-year-old boy on Sept. 17, 1982; and second-degree felony sexual assault of an unconscious victim on Feb. 4, 1983.
The charges were filed by Assistant District Attorney Aaron Marcoux, based on an investigation by the Sawyer County Sheriff’s Office.
On Nov. 16, a Sawyer County warrant was issued for Ericksen’s arrest. A court date has not been set.
According to bishopaccountability.org, Ericksen was removed from the priesthood in 1988. The Superior Diocese settled with Ericksen’s accusers in 1989 for several million dollars.
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