Media Advisory: Abuse Survivor Seeks Release of Priest Files at Duluth Hearing Tomorrow

Abuse Survivor Doe 28 Seeks Court Order for Diocese of Duluth to Release Priest Files

Diocese Refuses to Release Secret Documents on Abusive Priests

(St. Paul, MN) – At a hearing Thursday before the Honorable Shaun R. Floerke in St. Louis County District Court in Duluth, attorneys for clergy abuse survivor Doe 28 will seek an Order requiring the Diocese of Duluth to release to Doe 28 all documents and files regarding all clergy accused of child sexual abuse.

The documents and files would provide a clearer picture of the Diocese’s practices regarding abusive priests and are necessary for Doe 28 to receive full justice.

  • The Diocese refuses to release these documents to Doe 28, or to the public. The files show what the Bishops knew, when they knew it, and their dangerous practices. Until the records are made public, children are unsafe. The Diocese of Duluth released a list of clergy credibly accused of child sexual abuse, but the Diocese continues to conceal files about pedophile priests.
  • Doe 28 is a man who was sexually abused as a minor by Fr. Robert Klein, a Diocese of Duluth priest, in the early 1970s. The abuse occurred while Fr. Klein was assigned to Sacred Heart Church and St. Jean’s Elementary School in Duluth. Fr. Klein abused Doe 28 on trips to Brainerd, Minn.

When
Thursday, May 21, 2015, at 3:30 PM (CDT)

Where
St. Louis County Courthouse
Third Floor, Courtroom #1
100 North Fifth Avenue West
Duluth, MN  55802

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