Archdiocesan list of abusive priests has connections to St. Thomas

Updated 5:24 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 5, 2013.

A former St. Thomas associate dean of students and a past spiritual director of St. John Vianney Seminary are on a list of priests accused of sexually abusing minors, which was released by the Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis Thursday.

The Rev. John McGrath, who died in 1995, worked at the then College of St. Thomas from 1970 to 1976. He was hired as assistant to the dean of students and also became housing director.

File photo of the Rev. John McGrath (The Aquin)
File photo of the Rev. John McGrath (The Aquin)

Two sexual abuse civil complaints were filed against McGrath in the Hennepin County District Court, according to a 1993 St. Paul Pioneer Press article. The complaints accused McGrath of sexual battery of two teenage girls at a Minneapolis church between 1966 and 1969 and a breach of fiduciary duty.

After leaving St. Thomas, McGrath became a pastor of a Robbinsdale church, where he served for almost 20 years. Doug Hennes, vice president of university and government relations, said Thursday St. Thomas was never aware of allegations against McGrath. Hennes added that the allegations were made after McGrath left St. Thomas, and they involved incidents that occurred before or after his St. Thomas service.

McGrath was one of more than 30 names made public Thursday after a judge’s order and months of criticism that church leaders mishandled allegations of abuse.

Archbishop John Nienstedt said he hopes the move will restore trust.

Also on the list is a former spiritual director of St. John Vianney Seminary, the Rev. Gilbert DeSutter, who served in the position from 1968 to 1973. DeSutter, 85, now lives in Mesa, Ariz. and was permanently removed from ministry in 2003, according to the archdiocese.

According to the Star Tribune, DeSutter was accused by two men of abusing them as boys at churches in Fridley and Prior Lake. He worked at those two churches between 1976 and 1993.

In 1999, DeSutter denied the allegations in an interview with a Star Tribune reporter.

Hennes said St. Thomas is not aware of any allegations against DeSutter during his time at St. John Vianney.

A third clergy member, who recently lived near campus, was also on the list. The Rev. Jerome Kern, “has lived in recent years in the Byrne Residence for Retired Priests on Mississippi River Boulevard. Byrne is owned and operated by the archdiocese, and is located on St. Paul Seminary property adjacent to the St. Thomas campus,” according to Hennes. Kern no longer lives in the Byrne Residence, according to the archdiocese. Hennes said after St. Thomas learned of the allegations made against Kern, the university asked the archdiocese to remove Kern from the Byrne Residence, which they did in early November.

Kern has been accused of multiple incidents of abuse, including an allegation that he molested a boy in 1977 in the old McCarthy Gymnasium Pool near the St. Paul Seminary, according to the Star Tribune.

The archdiocese document released Thursday said Kern was in residence at the St. Paul Seminary on sabbatical from 1994 to 1995. He was then appointed temporary administrator of St. Dominic Church in Northfield, Minn., in 1995. He was removed from ministry in 2002 and currently lives in Edina, Minn.

The list released by the archdiocese Thursday was compiled in 2004. In the same judicial order that led to Thursday’s release, the judge set Jan. 6, 2014 as a deadline for naming priests accused since 2004.

The Rev. Michael Keating, who took a voluntary leave from St. Thomas in October after accusations of sexual misconduct in 1997, was not part of Thursday’s list.