MINNEAPOLIS – A court hearing this month over public records played a role in fueling the clergy sex abuse crisis in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.
The session was about names of local Roman Catholic clergy accused of molesting children. A victim wants the court to make the list public. Attorneys for the archdiocese don't.
The judge didn't decide that day. But he did enter into the record a sensitive police report that came up in arguments.
The report along with memos obtained by Minnesota Public Radio News show administrators in an awkward debate: Did a priest's lewd photos meet the definition for child porn?
Child safety experts who advise U.S. dioceses say church officials in these cases shouldn't decide on their own, but should give the images to police.
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