St. Paul Police Reopen Investigation into Priest, Child Porn

By Tony Kennedy
Star Tribune
October 8, 2013

http://www.startribune.com/local/south/226942451.html

St. Paul police have reopened a criminal investigation into whether a Catholic priest downloaded child pornography, a move that could put Archbishop John Nienstedt and others under new scrutiny for their handling of the case.

New information includes recently leaked internal church documents that describe the computer images as “borderline illegal’’ and indicate church officials were concerned about possible criminal prosecution. In addition, the Hugo parishioner who originally discovered the porn on the priest’s desktop computer recently turned over a copy of the images that he forgot he had.

Also swirling around the case are concerns raised by Nienstedt’s former canonical chancellor, Jennifer Haselberger, who resigned in April and told authorities the church hierarchy failed to report child endangerment and child pornography to law enforcement.