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<\/p>\nAnti-Gay Former Archbishop Denies Allegations Of Cruising Parks, Inappropriately Touching Male Student<\/b><\/p>\n
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An internal church probe is investigating allegations against anti-gay<\/a> Archbishop John Nienstedt that he cruised parks, sought poppers, inappropriately touched understudies and went to gay<\/a> clubs in the 1980s reports <\/a>The Star Tribune<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n The probe, commissioned by Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, collected affidavits from several priests and former seminarians alleging that Nienstedt visited gay<\/a> clubs around Detroit in the early 1980s along with reports of inappropriate touching. Nienstedt resigned June 15<\/a> after Ramsey County prosecutors filed criminal and civil charges against the archdiocese citing a “failure to protect children,” regarding accusations of priests abusing children under Nienstedt’s tenure. Nienstedt has denied all allegations disclosed in affidavits:<\/p>\n “It pains me deeply that my good name and reputation have been put into question by allegations that are entirely false and based wholly on rumor, hearsay, or innuendo.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n However, numerous testimonies from Nienstedt’s contemporaries indicate otherwise. Priest Lawrence Ventline from Harristown Township, Mich. reported seeing Nienstedt outside a gay<\/a> club in Windsor, Ontario in the 1980s:<\/p>\n “I recall seeing John — and there is no doubt in my mind that it was him based on my prior interactions with him — at the Happy Tap. He appeared to wave me off as I was coming — and I backed off because I did not want impose on him.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Another Michigan priest disclosed that Nienstedt approached his car in an area frequented by gay<\/a> men<\/a> in the 1980s asking him for poppers, an inhalant used to enhance sexual pleasure. A former student at Sacred Heart Seminary also disclosed Nienstedt groped his buttocks after a dinner together back in 2000-2002; Nienstedt threatened the student saying that he could, “make things unpleasant for you very quickly,” after the student protested.<\/p>\n Nienstedt says the accusations are “retribution” for his anti-gay<\/a> views. Nienstedt claims he has evidence to debunk his accusers claims, but says that revealing said evidence is “a disservice to the people who cooperated with the investigation under a promise of confidentiality.” However, Ramsey County’s investigation in its criminal prosecution of Nienstedt is still active with a court hearing scheduled for Aug. 25.<\/p>\n The post Anti-Gay Former Archbishop Denies Allegations Of Cruising Parks, Inappropriately Touching Male Student<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n
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