Media Advisory
April 27, 2015
Jeff Anderson and Doe 2
Will Stand Together Tuesday and Announce Settlement of
Civil Lawsuit against St. John’s Abbey and Fr. Allen Tarlton
Breakthrough settlement, modeled after Doe 1 v. Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis settlement, requires
St. John’s Abbey to publicly release the files of 19 St. John’s clerics likely to have offended against minors
WHAT: • Doe 2 will attend, disclose his name and speak about the case. The event will be live streamed.
• Father Tarlton’s personnel and “incident” file will be released.
• Portions of Father Tarlton’s October 2013 deposition testimony will be played and released.
• The plan for release of 18 additional priest files and the significance of this settlement – that children will be safer – will be discussed. As part of the settlement, the personnel and incident files of the additional 18 St. John’s monks who have been deemed likely to have offended against minors will be publicly released over the coming months.
• The photos and identities of the credibly accused clerics will be shown.
Doe 2 was sexually abused repeatedly by Fr. Tarlton when he was a freshman at St. John’s Preparatory School in 1977. Doe 2’s case was one of the first filed in Minnesota under the 2013 Child Victims Act. Trial was scheduled to begin in the case in Stearns County on May 4 before Judge Vicki Landwehr.
“The credit for achieving this groundbreaking settlement rests with Doe 2, for having the courage to find his voice, stand up for truth and demand transparency with accountability,” said Jeff Anderson, one of Doe 2’s attorneys.
The 18 additional monks whose files will be released are: Br. Andre Bennett, Fr. Michael Bik, Fr. Robert Blumeyer, Fr. Cosmas Dahlheimer, Fr. Richard Eckroth, Fr. Thomas Gillespie, Fr. Othmar Hohmann, Fr. Francis Hoefgen, Fr. Dominic Keller, Fr. John Kelly, Fr. Brennan Maiers, Fr. Finian McDonald, Fr. Dunstan Moorse, Br. Jim Phillips, Fr. Francisco Schulte, Fr. Pirmin Wendt, Fr. Bruce Wollmering, Fr. Angelo Zankl.
“We are grateful to stand with Doe 2 and the many survivors who are now standing up for themselves and the truth, and given a chance they now have under the Child Victims Act, which they didn’t have before,” Mr. Anderson said.
WHEN: Tuesday, April 28, 2015, at 1:00PM CT
WHERE: Offices of Jeff Anderson and Associates, P.A.
366 Jackson Street, Suite 100
St. Paul, MN 55101
NOTES: Documents will be available online and we will live stream the press event from our website www.andersonadvocates.com.
Contact: Jeff Anderson: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.817.8665
Mike Finnegan: Office/651.227.9990 Cell/612.205.5531
Mike Bryant: Office/320.259.5414 Cell/800.359.0061
A founding partner with Bradshaw & Bryant, Mike Bryant has always fought to find justice for his clients—knowing that legal troubles, both personal injury and criminal, can be devastating for a family. Voted a Top 40 Personal Injury "Super Lawyer" multiple years, Mr. Bryant has also been voted one of the Top 100 Minnesota "Super Lawyers" four times.
2 Comments
oldsterone
St. John's Abbey is historically corrupt, and should be investigated by the Vatican. The current bishop is silent, like his predecessor, and victims--now numbering over 200--continue to come forward every single year. Most were harmed at St. John's Prep School.
With the window closing, many more will come out in public, continuing to shame that campus whose Catholic ethos is in a free fall. Why is the Abbey silent on Timothy Backous, who was credibly accused last year of molesting multiple boys choir children and whose investigation should be long completed? Why is the Abbey silent on Ben Spanier, a victim of Tom Andert who committed suicide last December?
Mike Bryant
Thank you for reading and the added comment. It is absolutely true that there is much more to do. This is far from the end.
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