MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
Article by: JEAN HOPFENSPERGER , Star Tribune Updated: October 7, 2014
Details of child sexual abuse by 14 priests serving the Winona Diocese are made public for the first time.
The personnel files of 14 priests in the Winona Diocese who have been credibly accused of child sex abuse were released Tuesday, documenting details behind their work at every Catholic high school in the diocese — from Rochester to Worthington — as well as 45 parishes across southern Minnesota.
For the first time, the priests’ mental health reports, sexual abuse complaints and hundreds more documents were made public as part of a groundbreaking lawsuit making its way through Ramsey District Court.
The lawsuit was filed last year by a man who said he was abused by former priest Thomas Adamson, who had been accused of molesting boys in the Winona diocese before being transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul Minneapolis.
The alleged victim sued both the Winona diocese and the archdiocese, which has released thousands of documents related to its list of more than 30 credibly accused priests.
The Winona Diocese documents show when bishops and leaders knew of the accusations and what they did about.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.