| Three with 1980s St. Joseph Ties on Accused Priest List
Press Pubs
December 5, 2013
http://www.presspubs.com/quad/news/article_044597ac-5dee-11e3-b013-0019bb2963f4.html
Three men who served at St. Joseph of the Lakes Catholic Church in the 1980s were named Dec. 5 in a list of priests credibly accused of engaging in sexual abuse of minors, according to information from the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. According to church administrator Amy Moore, to current church staff's knowledge, none of the claims of abuse occurred while the men were serving at St. Joseph of the Lake.
The three men are Lee Krautkremer, 73, of Minneapolis; Timothy McCarthy, 67, of St. Paul or Oakdale; and Robert Zasacki, 67, now deceased.
The Quad Community Press did not uncover significant criminal cases involving Krautkremer, McCarthy or Zasacki. Krautkremer was a pastor at St. Joseph from 1978 to 1984, McCarthy was an associate priest at the parish from 1984 to 1986, and Zasacki served at the parish in 1983 and 1984 (the list did not state in what capacity).
Moore pointed out that all three men were removed from ministry after receiving assignments at other churches and well after serving at St. Joseph (five years later for McCarthy, almost 20 years later for the other two men), a detail she said suggests that the claims of abuse may have come during later assignments. The church, she said, does not know of any abuse claims made against the three men while they served in Lino Lakes.
However, an archdiocese memo provided to the Quad Community Press (revealed in a 2002 lawsuit) states that the archdiocese received an accusation of past abuse by Krautkremer in 1983 -- while Krautkremer was still the pastor in Lino Lakes. The alleged abuse took place in 1977, while Krautkremer was still serving in Forest Lake. Another 1983 archdiocese memo from then-archbishop John Roach recommends that Krautkremer be transferred to another parish because of Lino Lakes' proximity to Forest Lake.
More information will be posted as it becomes available.
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