Document suggests archbishop slow to report abuse allegations

Published 12:26 pm Thursday, January 30, 2014

ST. PAUL — A church document suggests the St. Paul-Minneapolis archdiocese waited two days to tell police of sexual abuse allegations against a priest.

The document obtained is a decree signed by Archbishop John Nienstedt in 2012. It shows the Archdiocese knew about allegations against the Rev. Curtis Wehmeyer on June 18. But police reports show the archdiocese didn’t report the claims to police until two days later. The law generally requires a priest to report suspected child abuse within 24 hours.

The revelation came after Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said he would not file any charges for failure to report Wehmeyer’s abuse to police.

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Choi now said he’s taking another look.

An archdiocese spokeswoman says the document could be misinterpreted.