MINNESOTA
Winona Daily News
The first civil lawsuit to be filed under a new Minnesota law eliminating the statute of limitations for children who have been sexually abused is expected to be announced this afternoon.
The suit will be filed on behalf of a 51-year-old unidentified Twin Cities man, and will name the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis, the Diocese of Winona and former priest Thomas Adamson as defendants. Jeff Anderson, of Anderson and Associates, is representing the plaintiff.
Adamson, 78, was ordained as a priest for the Diocese of Winona in 1958. Allegations of his sexual involvement with young boys date from the early 1960s. In 1975, he was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul after a number of abuse complaints had been brought to the attention of church officials in the Winona diocese. He continued in the active priesthood until 1984.
While Adamson never faced criminal abuse charges — the statute of limitations had expired — he was named in three civil suits settled out of court, and a fourth suit brought against the Diocese of Winona and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis was decided in favor of the complainant.
It wasn’t known Tuesday how much the lawsuit will seek in damages, or what time period it will focus on. Anderson and others are expected to announce more details of the suit today at a press conference in St. Paul.
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