Extreme heat warning in effect through Sunday

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

St. Paul Police Chief on the investigation of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis

a news conference he held alongside Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on Wednesday morning

, St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith sat down with reporters to discuss the progress of the police investigation into alleged clergy sexual abuse.

had said at a news conference in mid-December

 that the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis had been uncooperative in his department's investigation. "It's never good enough when someone tells us no," Smith said then. 

Betrayed by Silence | An MPR News investigation

In Wednesday's meetings with reporters, Smith said the church had become more responsive since he made his earlier frustrations known. Police are now meeting regularly with attorneys for the archdiocese and its vicar general, he said.

He repeated his request that victims come forward, regardless of when abuse might have occurred.

Smith says his department continues to investigate other open cases, though it has not employed search warrants to gain access to church files. Because the archdiocese covers 12 counties, Smith said, St. Paul police are working with law enforcement in other counties where alleged abuse might have taken place.

Gallery

Betrayed by Silence: An MPR News investigation

Choi: Church officials 'did not fail to comply with the law' in reporting Wehmeyer abuse

Archdiocese officials meet with St. Paul police

Police: Archdiocese not cooperating with clergy abuse investigation

Choi: No grand jury in archdiocese probe

Crime, Law and Justice

Religion and Faith

Laura Yuen

Author

Jeffrey Thompson

Before a news conference he held alongside Ramsey County Attorney John Choi on Wednesday morning, St. Paul Police Chief Tom Smith sat down with reporters to discuss the progress of the police investigation into alleged clergy sexual abuse. "When I hear over and over again that 'mistakes have been made,' we need to know what those mistakes are," he said.

Video: St. Paul police chief says victims come first in clergy abuse investigation

Go Deeper.

Like this?