ST. LOUIS (MO)
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Archdiocese says Carlson’s statements about abuse were reported out of context
By Lilly Fowler lfowler@post-dispatch.com 314-340-82214
Statements by St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson about not knowing whether sexual abuse of children by priests was a crime that have ignited outrage were taken out of context, a spokesman for the archdiocese said Wednesday.
The spokesman, Gabe Jones, said the comments Carlson made in a deposition last month had been misconstrued in news reports to suggest the archbishop didn’t know it was a criminal offense for an adult to molest a child.
“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Jones said.
“When the archbishop said ‘I’m not sure whether I knew it was a crime or not,’ ” Jones said, “he was simply referring to the fact that he did not know the year that clergy became mandatory reporters of suspected child abuse.”
The 181-page deposition is part of a sexual abuse lawsuit in Minnesota involving the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona, Minn. Carlson was responding to questions from plaintiff attorney Jeff Anderson.
The plaintiff in the case, identified only as “Doe 1,” alleges abuse in the 1970s by the Rev. Thomas Adamson at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in St. Paul Park, Minn.
The deposition shows Carlson claiming he was uncertain whether during his time as auxiliary archbishop in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis he knew that a priest engaging in sex with a child constituted a crime.
Over and over, for a total of 193 times throughout the deposition, Carlson said he did not remember, in response to questions posed by Anderson.
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