Names of 16 Priests Accused Of Abuse Released By New Ulm Diocese

By Kelsey Barchenger
KEYC
March 29, 2016

http://www.keyc.com/story/31590429/names-of-16-priests-accused-of-abuse-released-by-new-ulm-diocese

The names of multiple priests accused of sexually abusing children while working for the New Ulm Diocese was released for the first time this morning.

This as the names of their alleged abusers were made public this morning, among the 16 priests at the New Ulm Diocese accused of sexual abuse.

Their childhood pain has been hidden for years as a dark secret.

Abuse victim Lori Stoltz said, "It was very confusing when I was younger. I didn't have a voice as a child so I was very scared. You kind of keep it a secret. It stays with you as a dark secret and it just kind of manifests itself."

And she wasn't alone. Today two victims stepped out of the shadows as the list of the 16 priests accused of abusing victims from the 1940s through the 90's was made public.

Abuse victim Kim Schmit said, "It has given me some empowerment–a little bit of piece of mind and some justice."

Mike Finnegan said, "It's extremely important to them–number one for child protection that there's no more secrets around sex abuse in the Diocese of New Ulm and number two to reach out to all the survivors that are out there suffering secrecy, silence and shame that they know they can get help and they can come forward confidentially but time is running out."

Of these 16 priests, 13 are deceased. Four are formerly employed by the Diocese of New Ulm and while they don't have credible accusations against them while being employed there, they have been credibly accused of abuse in other diocese.

In response to the release, Diocese of New Ulm Bishop John LeVoir said in a statement "On behalf of the church I apologize for the grave offenses committed against the vulnerable by those who were ordained to serve our communities.

We are grateful to the survivors who have come forward already and encourage those who have not yet come forward to do so."

Attorneys say this list of accused priests is likely not complete, and they expect more victims to come forward before the state deadline to file a lawsuit under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which is May 25. 

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The names of multiple priests accused of sexually abusing children while working for the New Ulm Diocese has just been released.

Just within the last hour the New Ulm Diocese has released the names of 16 of its priests accused of sexually abusing children from the 1940s through the '90's. Of these 16 men, 13 are deceased.

New Ulm is the last of the state's six dioceses to release such a list.

This morning, two of the victims of abuse along with their attorneys spoke out at a press conference on the matter, saying this is not only a big first step in their over two year court battle to get these names released, but it's also a chance for other victims to come forward.

Mike Finnegan said, "It's extremely important to them–number one for child protection that there's no more secrets around sex abuse in the Diocese of New Ulm and number two to reach out to all the survivors that are out there suffering secrecy, silence and shame that they know they can get help and they can come forward confidentially but time is running out."

Finnegan says this list of accused priests is likely not complete, and he expects more victims to come forward before the state deadline to file a lawsuit under the Minnesota Child Victims Act, which is May 25.

We did reach out to the New Ulm Diocese, and they will be releasing a statement on the matter later this afternoon.

Names of priests released include: Cletus Altermatt, Harry Majerus, Dennis Becker, Francis Markey, Gordon Buckley, William Marks, Robert Clark, John Murphy, J. Vincent Fitzgerald, David Roney, John Gleason, Douglas Schleisman, Joseph Heitzer, Michael Skoblik, Rudolph Henrich ,Charles Stark