MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Stephen Montemayor Star Tribune MAY 20, 2015
Opening statements are scheduled to begin Wednesday in the Dakota County trial of a former Catholic priest charged in connection with repeated sexual abusing an altar boy in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Francis Hoefgen, 64, who has left the priesthood and lives in Columbia Heights, was charged last year with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for allegedly abusing the boy, who was between 9 and 12 years old at the time.
The Dakota County attorney’s office said the crimes were committed while Hoefgen was a priest at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church (formerly St. Boniface) in Hastings.
Hoefgen also has been sued under the 2013 Minnesota Child Victims Act, which opened a three-year window for the filing of lawsuits for decades-old child sex abuse claims. While dozens of Minnesota priests have since been accused of sexual misconduct, Hoefgen is one of the few to face criminal charges.
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