Victims blast St. Paul archbishop

Victims blast St. Paul archbishop

They reveal names of 5 “still hidden” predators

Wife of serial predator speaks out for the 1^st time

He has reportedly raped a girl & abused 44 women

Group also blasts church report on Fr. McDonough

And a victim of a serial Catholic composer speaks up

WHAT:

At a news conference, clergy sex victims will reveal the names of and details about five ‘still under the radar’ child molesting clerics who are or were in the Twin Cities area but are NOT on the St. Paul archdiocese’s ‘credibly accused’ list.

They will also harshly criticize Minnesota’s top Catholic official and prod him to

-- update and expand his list of predator priests (and include photos, work histories and last known whereabouts),

-- severely discipline a top level cleric who dealt with clergy sex crimes and cover ups in the archdiocese for 20 years, and

-- take ‘aggressive steps’ to warn the public about a prominent Catholic musician who’s accused of abusing nearly 50 women and is still in the Twin Cities.

WHEN: 

Tuesday, June. 15 at 2:15 p.m.

WHERE

Outside the Cathedral of St. Paul, 239 Selby Ave. in St Paul

WHO: 

Three-four clergy sex abuse victims, including

---the ex-wife of serial predator who reportedly abused nearly 50 women (and at least one girl),

---an outspoken Minnesota survivor who has dealt extensively with the Twin Cities Catholic hierarchy, and

---a Missouri survivor who is the former national director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

WHY

---1) For seven years, Jeanne Cotter of St. Paul was married to David Haas, a well-known Catholic composer who is accused of raping a 13 year old Minnesota girl and has long engaged in sexually predatory behavior toward at least 44 young women.

Several bishops have forbidden him from performing in their dioceses. Haas is NOT on the St. Paul archdiocese ‘credibly accused’ list, but advocates say he should be.

Cotter will talk about her experiences (for the first time in the Twin Cities) and prod church officials to do more to warn others about Haas and find and help others who were hurt by him.

---2) Earlier this month, a new church panel’s report found that Fr. Kevin McDonough, the archdiocesan official who handled clergy sex cases for 20 years, “failed to adequately keep children safe.”

But victims are outraged at the report’s “minimizing and mischaracterizing of his wrongdoing” and the lack of “real consequences” for Fr. McDonough.

They also want Fr. McDonough defrocked, demoted and harshly disciplined” or at least a full, independent investigation into “the repeated enabling, ignoring and hiding of clergy sex crimes by the Twin Cities Catholic hierarchy, by Fr. McDonough and others.”

---3) SNAP has found five credibly accused child molesting clerics who are or were in the St. Paul archdiocese but are NOT on its ‘credibly accused list. Four of them have been deemed ‘credibly accused’ of abuse by Catholic authorities elsewhere.

They areFr. Neil J. Emon, Fr. Alphonsus Ferguson, Fr. J. Roger Lucey, Fr. Merle Fisher and Fr. Milton Eggerling. (Details about each man are below.)

All of them have been either been sued or suspended or civil cases against them have been settled. Most have been deemed ‘credibly accused’ of abuse by church authorities elsewhere. Though nearly all have been mentioned as alleged predators in mainstream media accounts, few/none of them have attracted public attention here.

SNAP charges archdiocesan officials “are being reckless, callous and secretive by protecting the identities of these predators.” The group wonders how many other abusive priests, nuns, seminarians, brothers, bishops or lay church employees in central Minnesota remain ‘under the radar.

CONTACT

David Clohessy 314 566 9790, [email protected], Frank Meuers 952 334 5180, [email protected]

Accused Twin Cities priest who are NOT on the archdiocese ‘credibly accused’ list

-- Fr. J. Roger Lucey, who in 2018 was put on the LaCrosse diocese’s ‘credibly accused’ and the Midwest Jesuit ‘established allegations’ list.

He worked at Jesuit College in St. Paul (from 1966-1977) and at the LaStorta Apostolic Community in Minneapolis (from 1984-1985) and in Wisconsin, Nebraska, Massachusetts, California and Belize.

--Fr. Merle Fisher, a Marist who was at St. Louis King of France parish in St. Paul in 2001.

He reportedly sexually abused a boy in Hawaii at least six times (from roughly 1967-1970) specifically smacking and squeezing the boy’s buttocks and fondling his penis and testicles when was 8-11 years old.

Last year, the victim received a six figure settlement from Catholic officials.

Fr. Fisher was ordained in 1960 and also worked in Hawaii, California and Idaho.

x--Fr. Milton Eggerling, who was sued for abuse in 2016 and was put on the Austin TX diocese’s ‘credibly accused’ list in 2019. He was in the Twin Cities twice: at Corpus Christi parish in St. Paul (from 1958-1959) and at the University of Minnesota Catholic student center (from 1960-1961).

He also worked in California, Texas, South Dakota, North Dakota, Massachusetts and Peru. Fr. Eggerling was ordained in 1954 and died in 2008.

--Fr. Neil J. Emon, a Crosier who was a weekend priest and spiritual advisor for the Central Minnesota TEC program from 1978-1988. (The Crosiers are based in St. Paul.) He is now on three ‘credibly accused’ lists: the St. Cloud diocese, the Detroit archdiocese and the St. Paul-based Crosiers religious order.

He was born in 1940, ordained in 1967, admitted molesting kids in 1991, was suspended in 2002, died in 2019, and also worked in Nebraska, Michigan and Arizona.

--Fr. Alphonsus Ferguson, who in 2014 was sued for reportedly molesting a boy at Guardian Angels Church in Hastings. That church merged with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish in 1987 and “was home to at least five other priests against whom allegations of child sexual abuse and other sexual improprieties have been leveled,” according to Minnesota Public Radio.

He belonged to the St. Columban's Mission Society and the Franciscan Servants of the Sacred Heart, both (based in Omaha) and also worked in New York, Iowa and China.