St. Paul Police took the unusual step of calling a press conference to rebut information contained in a KSTP media report that falsely claimed Archbishop John Nienstedt and Father Peter Laird are the focus of a criminal investigation for obstruction of justice in a case involving alleged sexual misconduct committed by Father Jonathan Shelley.
Howie Padilla, a police spokesman, said called the report, which aired Nov. 12, “inaccurate.”
“As we stand here today, they’re not being investigated,” he said.
The Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis contacted the stations’ executive producer before the report aired to let them know the report was inaccurate, but the station opted to air it anyway.
The archdiocese provided the following information to the station before the report aired.
“The Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis is aware that the St. Paul Police have reopened their investigation into the Fr. Jon Shelley case,” the statement said. “We will cooperate fully, as we did in the police’s previous 7-month investigation that found no evidence of child pornographic material. We take very seriously matters of sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy. We encourage anyone who has been a victim of such sexual abuse to report it to police and to the Archdiocese.
“Any inference or suggestion that the Archdiocese withheld evidence or obstructed justice simply is inaccurate.”
