At a news conference Wednesday, March 4, Fargo attorneys Tim O’Keeffe, Tatum O’Brien, and Waite Parke, MN attorney Mike Bryant released an 80-page document detailing church assignment history for 53 clergy who have substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, along with other diocese staff assignment information.
The attorneys requested the Fargo and Bismarck Dioceses release “files pertinent to the histories of each perpetrator to the public and law enforcement.” According to Bryant, Minnesota Dioceses voluntarily made that information public for their state.
In addition, the attorneys requested that the N.D. Attorney General investigate the files of priests within the two dioceses to identify the depth of the dioceses’ knowledge and cover-up of clergy abuse.
Also, they called for the N.D. Legislature to open up the statute of limitations so that offenders can no longer be shielded from civil remedies.
