MINNESOTA
Minnesota Public Radio
[with copy of the criminal complaint]
Jon Collins
Madeleine Baran
Jun 5, 2015
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is being criminally charged for its “role in failing to protect children and contribution to the unspeakable harm” done to three victims of former priest Curtis Wehmeyer, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said Friday.
• Sept. 23, 2013: Archdiocese knew of priest’s sexual misbehavior, yet kept him in ministry
The charges place responsibility for the abuse of those children not just on Wehmeyer “but the archdiocese as well,” Choi told reporters as he announced the charges.
Choi said the six counts qualify as gross misdemeanors and could lead to fines against the archdiocese. Prosecutors “don’t have sufficient evidence” to charge any church official at this point, he added.
The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office has also filed a civil petition against the archdiocese.
Choi said the investigation remains ongoing and “robust” and that new facts that support the allegations in the charges today have been uncovered.
Church officials time and time again turned a blind eye in the name of protecting priests at the expense of protecting children, Choi said.
• Listen: Friday’s news conference
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