MINNESOTA
Grand Forks Herald
By: Stephen J. Lee, Grand Forks Herald
Megan Peterson was home with family near Middle River, Minn., on spring break from college this weekend when she heard that the fugitive priest who she says sexually assaulted her when she was 14 was arrested Friday in India.
“I’m kind of in shock,” said Peterson, 22, today as she drove back to Winona (Minn.) State University where she’s majoring in studio art with a minor in child advocacy. “I just heard about it last night. It’s a big weight off my shoulders and I’m glad he’s away from kids and hopefully justice can be served.”
According to news sources in India, the Rev. Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, 57, was arrested Friday there on charges out of Roseau County that he sexually assaulted two girls in 2004 and 2005 while he was priest of Blessed Sacrament parish in Greenbush, Minn.
Jeyapaul was a visiting priest from India and returned there before criminal charges were filed against him in state district court in Roseau in 2006. He’s been a fugitive since from justice here while still working as a priest there.
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