MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Paul Walsh Star Tribune MAY 8, 2017
A Twin Cities law firm intends to file a lawsuit Monday against a current Minnesota bishop and a Roman Catholic diocese in the state alleging that a survivor of clergy sex abuse was threatened with retaliation if he revealed how he was assaulted as a child.
St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson, who for many years has pursued many legal cases in connection with clergy sex abuse in Minnesota and elsewhere, said this is the first time a U.S. bishop has been sued for coercion.
At a news conference scheduled for Tuesday at Anderson’s offices, the abuse survivor and a priest from the diocese will speak publicly for the first time about “how the bishop threatened retaliation against the survivor and a family member if he disclosed the sexual abuse,” a statement from Anderson’s law firm read.
The bishop “threatened harm to [the] survivor’s vocation” and the “survivor’s son’s career as a priest if he did not recant his abuse report,” the statement continued.
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.