Deposition of the Rev. Kevin McDonough to be released

The Rev. Kevin McDonough
The Rev. Kevin McDonough served as the archbishop's deputy from 1991-2009.
Getty Images/File 2007

The Rev. Kevin McDonough's sworn testimony about his role in the Twin Cities Catholic church's handling of sexual abuse allegations will be released Thursday, according to a St. Paul victims' attorney.

McDonough, who served as vicar general — top deputy — for Archbishops John Roach and Harry Flynn and led the archdiocese's child safety programs until September, answered questions under oath for more than six hours on April 16.

The deposition was part of a lawsuit brought by a man who says he was sexually abused by the Rev. Thomas Adamson in the mid-1970s. The suit claims the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona created a public nuisance by refusing for decades to release information about abusive priests. It says that the actions of top church officials continue to put children at risk.

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Explore the full investigation Clergy abuse, cover-up and crisis in the Twin Cities Catholic church

Attorney Jeff Anderson, who represents Adamson's alleged victim, said after the deposition that McDonough had answered most of his questions. But the priest refused to respond to questions about his decision not to participate in a St. Paul police investigation into clergy abuse cases, Anderson said. St. Paul Police Chief Thomas Smith has previously said that McDonough has declined to talk to police.

In a statement released after the April 16 deposition, the archdiocese said McDonough cooperated with the questioning. "Father McDonough emphasized that he always had the best interests of children and the vulnerable in mind when doing his work. He also acknowledged that the harm cause by sexual abuse is serious and grave," it said.

Lawyers for the archdiocese tried for months to block McDonough's deposition — along with that of Archbishop John Nienstedt — on the grounds that it would not be relevant to the Adamson case. But Ramsey County Judge John Van de North and the Minnesota Court of Appeals disagreed.

Video: Nienstedt admits archdiocese hid info on abusive priests

Nienstedt's testimony, which was taken on April 2, was released Tuesday. In it, he acknowledged that he took steps to hide information on abusive priests and never provided complete files to police.

He said he had followed McDonough's advice that he keep no written notes of certain discussions, in case those notes should later become public in legal proceedings. He said that he didn't publicly disclose which priests were being monitored, and that he relied on others to keep parish trustees informed.