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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014 03-12 Maplewood police take new look at old clergy abuse cases MAPLEWOOD REVIEWaeake...,new buseaw.eo mo. .se .. Kaitlyn Roby N�inneapolis and Twin Cit -could potentially be reexam- : As of March 10, the depart Another case fromi;' 2005 Review staff: ies law enforcement recently , ined. Ment was stip looking into: two involved a -priest, `who would Y `� make sure we've ` re orfs of sexual assault involy now be in his 70s ''and was. 44. Maplewood Police .Chief Paul Vie want to p.,, r. Maplewood Police Schnell said the de artment done ever hin we can" Sch ing-' clergy reportedly affiliated with the p everything g g gY p y � Deparfinent-recently began dig wanted .to ensure such cases nell. sand. "What's happening The lepa tme t denti xed a Archdiocese.. The priest was : i n into two inactive cases ' their reviews `` case frofn 'al e suri�mer o£ 2004 accused of " sexuall fondling' g ng.. _ ., e . . have' .had a chance at a tho' in. St. Paul with y g which previously didn't lead to ou h:.investi ation,'if possible, that's really what prompted. us .where a pastor was being inves- a .man who was then in his charges; involving members of Schnell said the de artment to .take a look. If there's some- Ligated for allegedly` sexually 20s, Schnell said.: The incident p the clergy: who were accused of began reviewing past. reports in thing for us to investigate, abusing a foster child in Maple- occurred at the priest's home, sexual abuse. Februairy, identifying' any inves we'd certainly want to do. that wood, according to Schnell. He ` according to Schnell. '.. With .a `'similar: lookback by tigations..ir volving members :of despite the. fact that it's an old said . the. investigation did not the. Archdiocese of St._ Paul and the clergy that went stale; but .. case:" result in charges. see Abuse on page 3Abus-e... continued from page 1, to prosecute and if the victims �R. would even be. interested in pro- �� ceeding. He said the department Police documents did not ;ndx plans to consult with sexual assault. ;cafe if or whexe the priest was sta- advocates, and the Ramsey County -tioned then or more recently. Attorney's. Office.. E Schnell said the victim did not We want to make sure we plan :want to proceed with the investiga- (going forward with the review, of :tion at the time, rendering -the case these: 'cases) .'a' 'carefully as possi- f�inactive. The Archdiocese was con- 1e,".Schnell said. "We don't want salted back then, Schnell said: to cause more harm. That's the No. "For us, when we. look at it, the. , l objective:" . only way you car' determine the He said; ."At the sane time, we ..veracity of the' complaint is through want to be responsive, and- ensure a full and complete investigation," that everything that we can do is Schnell said. "When the victim dis being done for the good of these continues their involvement, you victims:" can't really bring that case through Schnellsaid it's: possible that a full and complete .investigation. cases, could be reopened, but also Schnell. said; investigators' .are possible that they.remain inactive, the reviews carefullYaPproaching depending' on many . factors which considering if it's legally possible include statutes of limitations and . the victims' cooperation. He noted that -limited informa- tion is being released at this point,. due to the uncertainty in the sta- tuses of the cases. The' Archdiocese says it would' cooperate fully, if it were. contacted about the Maplewood case. "We do so with the utmost. respect for victims and otherswho have been harmed by the illegal and immoral acts of some of our clergy. over the past 50 years," ,said Jim. Accurso, an Archdiocese of St. Paul and -Minneapolis spokesman, in a statement. Kaitlyn Roby can be reached at 651-748-781.4 and hrobjj@til- lienews.Com. FoZlou� her .at twitter. com/KRohbNews.