What:
At a new conference, an unusual child sex abuse lawsuit settlement will be announced. It involves the St. Paul-Minneapolis Catholic archdiocese, a priest, and a woman who was both repeatedly molested by the cleric and publicly attacked by church officials
When:
TODAY, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 1:15 p.m.
Where:
Outside the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis headquarters (chancery office), 226 Summit Avenue in Saint Paul, MN
Who:
The victim, her family, her attorney Jeff Anderson another family who experienced abuse by the same predator, and a Chicago woman who is the founder of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, the nation's largest support group for clergy sex abuse victims
Details:
Under the settlement terms, St. Paul-Minneapolis Catholic officials must apologize to the victim and use material provided by SNAP in training church staff and volunteers about sexual abuse. (Archdiocesan authorities have long taken a hostile approach toward SNAP and rejected even invitations to meet with the group.) Such "non-economic" concessions from church officials are rare in clergy sex abuse settlements.
Anne Bonse of Glenwood City, Wis., was repeatedly abused by Fr. Gilbert Gustafson, from 1977 to 1982, when she was 5 to 10 years old, at her St. Mary of the Lake Catholic school in White Bear Lake, in her family's home and while on vacation.
In October 2002, she publicly offered to forego filing a civil lawsuit, and invited Archbishop Harry Flynn to sit down with her to discuss how to best prevent future child sex crimes by local clergy. Flynn refused, and archdiocesan staff publicly said they didn't believe her allegations, despite the fact that Gustafson had served jail time in the 1970s for molesting children. Church officials also publicly disclosed that she had sought professional therapy.
Bonse filed her suit in November 2002. Church lawyers unsuccessfully repeatedly sought to have the case dismissed. It was scheduled to go to trial this month. Besides the archdiocese itself, Flynn and his second-in-command, Fr. Kevin McDonough, were personally sued as individual defendants.
Despite his conviction, Gustafson continued to work as an archdiocesan priest until 2002.
Contact:
David Clohessy of St. Louis MO, SNAP National Director 314 566 9790
Barbara Blaine of Chicago, SNAP President & Founder 312 399 4747
Attorney Jeff Anderson of St. Paul 651 227 9990, 612 817 8665 cell
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