ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Roman Catholic Diocese of Winona has named 14 priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
The southeastern Minnesota diocese filed the list in Ramsey County District Court on Monday. That's a day before the deadline set by a Ramsey County judge.
KARE 11 is providing a link to the Winona diocese list.
Attorneys for abuse victims have long sought such lists by saying it's in the interest of public safety. Earlier this month, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis published the names of 34 priests accused of abuse under the same judicial order.
"Children in the communities here are safer because these names are out there, because they are public," said Mike Finnegan, sexual abuse litigation attorney for Jeff Anderson & Associates. "Often survivors are suffering in secrecy silence and shame. And this list and the release today gives those survivors permission to come forward and get help confidentially."
The Diocese of Winona spans 20 counties across southern Minnesota, from the South Dakota to Wisconsin borders. The accused priests have served in 45 parishes in 44 cities across southern Minnesota, Finnegan said.
KARE 11 traveled to Rochester where one priest on the list, Father Thomas Adamson, still lives. A person associated with his apartment complex confirms Adamson lives in an apartment building with children. Adamson has been the focus of multiple lawsuits involving dozens of young victims but has never faced criminal charges.
Of the 14 priests identified by the Diocese of Winona, nine are dead. Of the five still living, the diocese says one has been removed from priesthood. Three are in the process of being removed. The Diocese also released the name of one other priest, Leo Charles Koppala, 47, accused of abuse after 2004. According to the diocese, Koppala was placed on administrative leave in June 2013, pending the outcome of criminal proceedings in Faribault County where he was accused fondling of a young girl.
"This is the first time 12 of these names have ever been known. We are still pulling teeth and there is no anesthesia this is very difficult work. And I am sorry the survivors in Southern Minnesota had to find out this way. They should have been able to find out at the time so their parents could do something about it," said Patrick Wall, a former priest and advocate for sexual abuse victims. "You are going to have to go back and basically rewrite Catholic history for Southern Minnesota to know that more guys are coming out into the open."
Wall and Finnegan called for more documents to be released, believing the list is just a fraction of names associated with clergy sex abuse. They want the Catholic leaders to admit what they knew, when they learned of the abuse, and what measures were taken to cover the crimes up.
"What we still have a shortage of is moral courage. We have got to have bishops who have moral courage to call the cops, turn the guys in and turn over all the documents, that's how we fix this in our generation. Without that, I don't think we are going to fix it, it will continue on, so in 25 years we have the exact same conversation," said Wall.
Winona Bishop John Quinn issued a statement stressing extraordinary measures the Diocese has taken to protect children. He expressed hope for healing and new opportunities for moving forward in his email.
"Over the past few decades, a number of clergy members in the Diocese of Winona sadly have been accused of violating the sacred trust placed in them by children, youth and their families and were accused of detestable crimes of sexual abuse," said Quinn in the statement. "This has caused insufferable harm to victims, their families, parishioners and the Church. For this I am truly sorry."
Attorneys of clergy sex abuse victims are also are pressing for the release of similar lists in the Duluth, New Ulm and Crookston dioceses.
