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Deacon Aaron Kaiser has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into the allegations of child sexual abuse, according to a press release issued on June 11. He was removed from his ministerial post.
Still awaiting the conclusion of the investigation and in accordance with canon law, Deacon Kaiser enjoys the presumption of innocence and the right to his good reputation, according to the press release. In order to protect the integrity of the investigation, no further comments will be made at this time.
Aaron Kaiser
The statement did not give details of the charges, including when and where they allegedly took place.
A former branch manager of Riverwood Bank in Bagley, Minnesota, Kaiser became a deacon in 2017 and was assigned to St. Josephs Catholic Church in the same city, according to the official diocesan journal, Our Northland Diocese. He was promoted to the post of pastoral associate for the Discipleship Training Office of the Dioceses in October 2019.
The office runs youth camps and gatherings, among other forms of missionary work.
Father Patrick Sullivan
News of the Kaisers allegations came three days after Crookston Bishop Richard Pates announced that the misconduct charges against Reverend Patrick Sullivan were not credible. Sullivan was put on administrative leave in February 2019 after a report on boundary issues was filed with the diocese.
Father Sullivan is to be commended for the dignity with which he behaved throughout these years of investigation, Pates said in a statement. It was very difficult for him.
This was the second time Sullivan had faced an investigation involving minors. In 2017, former Bishop Michael Hoeppner allowed Sullivan to return to ministry work after finding sexual abuse charges against a 15-year-old boy in 2008 at St. Mary’s Mission Church in Red Lake, Minn. , were unfounded.
He was later reinstated as a priest at St. Andrew’s in Hawley, Minn., And St. Elizabeth’s in Dilworth, Minn.
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Since the end of the last survey, Sullivan will be posted to the Catholic churches of St. Joseph in Ada, Minn., St. William in Twin Valley, Minn., And Holy Family in Halstad, Minn., Starting July 1.
Hoeppner resigned in April at the behest of Pope Francis. The bishop has been investigated for reports he allegedly covered child sexual abuse by members of the clergy in the diocese.
He was the first bishop in the United States to face such an investigation under the new rules put in place by Pope Francis. The move aimed to standardize protocols for investigating sexual abuse involving church leaders.
Hoeppner, who was 71 when he resigned, apologized in a statement for his failures in government.
The Diocese of Crookston covers northwestern Minnesota and includes cities like Moorhead, Detroit Lakes, East Grand Forks, and Bemidji.
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