New case charges sex abuse by priest

ROCHESTER, Minn. – A former Lourdes High School student, now in his 70s, sued the Winona-Rochester Catholic Diocese, claiming sexual abuse by a priest in the mid-1970s. The lawsuit, in Olmsted County Court, names Father Joseph Cashman, the Lourdes school administrator at the time. Cashman earlier was accused as a serial abuser of boys. Most incidents occurred at a cabin where Cashman hosted retreats. Two bishops, Loras Joseph Watters and John George Vlazny, failed to act decisively on complaints over the years and kept reassigning Cashman around the southern Minnesota diocese. A third bishop, Bernard Joseph Harrington, removed Cashman from the priesthood but failed to refer the criminal activity to civil authorities for prosecution. After being defrocked, Cashman reinvented himself in Texas selling real estate. He died in 2014. He was among 100-plus priests in the Diocese whose sexual dalliance and abuse led to $28 million in payouts to victims and put the Diocese in bankruptcy. The Diocese has since installed a no-tolerance policy on sex abuse and committed itself to referring cases as criminal offenses. The new case, however, suggests a specter of additional cases emerging. The new plaintiff, whose name is obscured in court documents, claims he  “has suffered, and will continue to suffer, great pain of mind and body, severe and permanent emotional distress, physical manifestations of emotional distress, embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, humiliation, and physical-personal and psychological injuries.” The suit isn’t specific on how much is sought in damages except they should be at least $50,000.

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