Another child sexual abuse lawsuit has been filed against the
Catholic Diocese of New Ulm, this time against a dead Willmar priest who
faced accusations in the past of sexually assaulting young girls.
In
addition to seeking money for damages, the lawsuit is asking a judge to
require the diocese to release what is described as a "secret list that
contains the names of those with credible accusations of sexual abuse
in the Diocese of New Ulm."
In a different matter, an attorney
for a man who filed a lawsuit against the diocese in June, accusing
another dead priest of sexually assaulting his client while he was a boy
attending a church in Henderson, is highlighting documents he says
prove the Roman Catholic Church knew that priest was a child molester
before he was assigned to that church.
The new lawsuit was filed
Monday in Brown County District Court by Lori Stoltz of Northfield and
Kim Schmit of Willmar. Both are claiming they were sexually assaulted by
David Roney while he was a priest at St. Mary's Catholic Church in
Willmar during the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Roney, who died in 2003,
was a priest at the church from 1967 to 1980. He later served as a
priest at the Church of St. Gregory the Great in Lafayette from 1980 to
1993.
In a news release issued Monday, diocese officials said they
would be investigating the allegations in the new lawsuits. In the past
the statute of limitations would have prevented the women from filing a
lawsuit. A change in Minnesota law earlier this year, called The Child
Victims Act, eased those restrictions.
"The Diocese of New Ulm
deeply regrets the long-lasting and devastating effects of sexual
misconduct on the part of clergy," the release said.
It also said
the diocese has made efforts to educate clergy, teachers, parents and
students to help identify and prevent sexual misconduct. It also
encouraged anyone who has been abused to report the misconduct to the
diocese.
The attorney for the women, Jeff Anderson, said in his
new complaint that the diocese admitted in 2003 that 12 priests from the
diocese had been accused of molesting children.
Those names have not
been released to the public.
"Lori and Kim, by filing this
lawsuit, are demanding the release of the list of known offenders so
that the community and kids can be better protected from child
predators," Anderson said in a news release. "Who knows how many other
Roneys are still out there."
Anderson has said his law firm is
aware of 20 victims assaulted by Roney, including five from Willmar who
have filed lawsuits in the past. Some victims also have come forward
from a church in Benson.
A lawsuit filed in June accused an Irish
priest, who allegedly traveled to the United States in 1981 to be
treated for pedophilia, of sexually assaulting a boy while serving at
St. Joseph Catholic Church in Henderson in 1982.
After that lawsuit was
filed, Diocese of New Ulm officials said they had no record of Francis
Markey serving as a priest at the church.
A diocese in Ireland had
sent Markey to a facility called The Servant of the Paraclete in New
Mexico in 1981 to be treated for pedophilia, said Pat Noaker, the
Minnetonka attorney representing the Henderson victim.
Markey, who also
died in 2003, had been sent to the Regional Treatment Center in Willmar
to take substance abuse classes at the time of the victim's allegations,
said Rev. Douglas Grams of the Diocese of New Ulm.
"We just know
that the common procedure would have been if a priest were sick or on
vacation, a priest helping out in Willmar would have been asked to
cover," Grams said in June. "But there is no record of an official
assignment."
Citing documents filed by the diocese, Noaker said it
was clear the diocese should have known Markey was a pedophile before
allowing him to be assigned to the church.
Those documents include
affidavits from church officials in Ireland and from the Servants of the
Paraclete.
They say Markey was treated for child molestation more than
once in Ireland before transferring to the United States.