Archdiocese releases names of priests, other members, accused of sexual abuse

On Friday night, the archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis released the names of 19 men accused of sexual abuse. Each of the men served within the diocese at one time.

Though the names of the men wouldn’t be recognized in the average household, St. Paul attorney Jeff Anderson said the names are not foreign to officials.

“The bad, and sad, news is these are all names that have been known to top officials for many, many years,” he told Fox 9 on Saturday.

Anderson represents many of the church sex abuse survivors. He told Fox 9 that the release only came because of pressure. In fact, 14 of the 19 have died.

“It’s the first time we’ve seen this sort of self-publication from the archdiocese,” Anderson said. “But it comes after years of investigation, pressure and pain.”

The publication said all 19 men have “substantiated claims of sexual abuse against them.”

Every name appeared in Anderson’s past cases. This list now joins a much larger group of 70 men the church has admitted committed sexual abuse.

“We are confident there are more people as we speak,” Anderson said. “We are working with the survivors and the archdiocese to move them through their process.”

Anderson said seeing those names on the archdiocese website means a lot to survivors; the release of the names serving as proof that their stories have made a difference.