MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By Emily Gurnon
egurnon@pioneerpress.com
POSTED: 11/19/2013
A former Hastings priest and St. John’s Abbey were among those named Tuesday in a lawsuit by a Minnesota man who alleges the priest sexually abused him after “graduating” from a sex-offender treatment facility.
The alleged victim, now in his 30s, also sued the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis and the treatment facility, Saint Luke Institute of Silver Springs, MD.
Rev. Francis Hoefgen admitted to police in 1984 that he sexually abused a minor, then was assigned the next year to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings after an evaluation at the institute, said the plaintiff’s attorney, Jeff Anderson, of St. Paul, in a statement.
It was at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton that Hoefgen sexually abused the plaintiff, identified as John Doe 27.
Hoefgen, a member of St. John’s Abbey, remained in ministry until 1992, serving in Cold Spring, Minn., as well as Hastings, Anderson said. Public records show him living currently in Columbia Heights. He was only 42 when his priestly assignments ended.
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