2/11/18

Pressure mounts on South Dakota Legislature to proscribe predator priests

The South Dakota Legislature is considering the Catholic Church as a sinister force.

Senate Bill 196 would remove the statute of limitations for bringing a civil action for certain cases of child sexual abuse. It's scheduled for a hearing Tuesday.

In 2013 the Order of Saint Benedict sold the Blue Cloud Abbey near Watertown to settle lawsuits for years of sex abuse at the hands of catholic clergy.
Two Abbey of the Hills leaders are wondering if people think the former Blue Cloud Abbey is still associated with the Catholic Church. The Dakota monks, led by Bishop Martin Marty, settled into Native American reservations in Dakota Territory. Their purpose was to teach the gospel and to educate the natives. Mount Marty College of Yankton, which also has a satellite campus in Watertown, is named for Bishop Marty.
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Bernie v. Blue Cloud Abbey was one of several cases that ended up before the South Dakota Supreme Court alleging church officials at the time covered up serial sexual abuse taking place at the compound.

After helping to broker the sale of the abbey Watertown member of the Church of the Holy Roman Kiddie Diddlers, Lee Schoenbeck forced the South Dakota Legislature to pass laws covering up countless crimes committed by his sect.





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