MINNEAPOLIS _ Ramsey County dropped criminal charges against the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis for failing to protect three boys from an abusive priest Wednesday and released documents that disclosed a social connection between that priest and former Archbishop John Nienstedt.
One of the documents is a memo written by an archdiocese priest describing a halted internal investigation into alleged sexual improprieties by Nienstedt. Nienstedt, the document says, had a social relationship with former St. Paul priest Curtis Wehmeyer, the priest at the center of the criminal case, which could have interfered with any discipline.
"Given the significant judgment errors in the Wehmeyer case, I believed this to be one of the most serious issues of the investigation," wrote the priest, who was the liaison between investigators and the archdiocese.
A relative of a chancery employee "had heard Wehmeyer comment on more than one occasion that he had had dinner the previous evening with Archbishop Nienstedt," he wrote.
Beyond the Wehmeyer connection, the memo said the investigation was finding a pattern of sexual advances by Nienstedt on priests and seminarians. But when the information was presented to the then-Vatican emissary in Washington D.C., Carlo Vigano, he ordered the investigation halted.
"The Nuncio said that the (investigating) lawyers were not to pursue any further leads," said the 2014 memo to former auxiliary bishop Lee Piche.
Piche and Cozzens then sent a letter back to Vigano, saying they disagreed with the decision to shut down the investigation because "this would rightly be seen as a coverup," the memo states. In response, Vigano asked them to take the letter back "and destroy it," the memo says.
The memo, dated July 7, 2014, states that the investigation by the Minneapolis law firm of Greene-Espel was pursuing 24 leads of sexual improprieties by Nienstedt. That included behavior with seminarians, priests, and a Swiss Guardsman in Rome. The writer is frustrated that the archdiocese has halted the probe.
"What has unfolded in the face of compelling evidence amounts to a good old fashioned coverup to preserve power and avoid scandal and accountability," he wrote.
Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represented the family of the boys abused by Wehmeyer, presented these and other newly released documents at a news conference Wednesday. He said if Pope Francis was serious about ending child sex abuse by clergy, he would take action against individuals who have covered it up.
"If he does, it will send a message across the country that this is intolerable," he said.
The archdiocese issued a statement by its attorney Joe Dixon in response to the document release. It noted that the Ramsey County attorney and St. Paul police had investigated the archdiocese and its leaders for three years, and had reviewed each of the documents made public.
"Today, Ramsey County Attorney John Choi told the public there is no basis to bring a criminal charge against any of those leaders," wrote Dixon. "He also dismissed all of the criminal charges against the Archdiocese. That dismissal is unconditional and speaks for itself."
The document release came hours after Choi announced he would drop criminal charges following a court hearing in which archdiocese officials outlined the steps they are taking to improve their response to clergy sex abuse claims and after Archbishop Bernard Hebda publicly acknowledged the church's failures.
"From the beginning, it has been our position that the archdiocese must directly admit fault and wrongdoing," said Choi at a news conference in St. Paul. "Today ... that public admission has been made."
Archbishop Bernard Hebda made that admission at a news conference shortly before Choi spoke.
"John Choi and I have committed to a course of action to keep children as safe as possible," said Archbishop Bernard Hebda said in the archdiocese's news conference. "Today we humbly acknowledge our past failures ... and pledge to move forward openly.
"Today, I, as the leader of this Archdiocese, stand before you to say: We failed _ in what we have done and in what we have failed to do," said Hebda. "In particular, we failed to prevent (former St. Paul priest) Curtis Wehmeyer from sexually abusing children ... We are sorry."
The news conferences capped a high-profile pair of court cases involving the archdiocese's handling of sexual abuse complaints against Wehmeyer, former pastor at Sacred Heart Church in St. Paul. Wehmeyer was convicted of sexually abusing two sons of a church employee in his trailer outside the church. When Choi filed criminal and civil charges against the archdiocese last June, he called the facts of the case "appalling."
While criminal charges against an archdiocese are extremely rare, so was the settlement reached last December on the civil case, which required the archdiocese to create a new set of procedures for handling abuse complaints, submit to audits and some county attorney's oversight of its progress.
On Wednesday, Choi added another layer of court oversight to the settlement. It allows Ramsey County to designate a seat on the archdiocese's ministerial review board. Choi's choice: nationally-known children's advocate Patty Wetterling, mother of Jacob Wetterling who was kidnapped in 1989.
Closing the criminal and civil cases represents a benchmark moment for the archdiocese, which will now be able to focus its resources on financial reorganization and victim compensation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court.
The day started with archdiocese officials reporting to the court that it was complying with a settlement agreement reached last December in the civil case. The archdiocese must report to the court every six months, under the agreement, and this was its first report.
The archdiocese has made significant progress, including new policies and procedures to strengthen child protection system, said Timothy O'Malley, director of the Office of Ministerial Standards and Safe Environment. For example, all 576 priests and deacons in the archdiocese have been subject to criminal background checks and taken specialized child protection training. Schools, parishes and other church institutions are also expected to be in full compliance with the background checks and training.
Other settlement provisions were added Wednesday, including provisions that would prevent the archdiocese from reaching confidential settlements with victims, unless the victims wanted it. The archdiocese, for years, reportedly reached such agreements with abuse victims.
Choi said that what the archdiocese has agreed to do is "unprecedented" and should be a model of child protection protocol for the United States, Choi said.
In an added step, the county attorney is putting online certain archdiocese documents its office has examined during its Wehmeyer investigation. Those documents are expected to be available Wednesday afternoon.
Choi said the settlement provisions will help ensure that the safety of children is paramount. Hebda agreed.
"John Choi and I have committed to a course of action to keep children as safe as possible," said Hebda. "Today we humbly acknowledge our past failures ... and pledge to move forward openly."
