Twin Cities Archdiocese Faces New Sex Abuse Suit

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A woman who alleges a priest molested her in the mid-1980s when she was a young girl is suing him and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.

The lawsuit alleges the archdiocese was negligent when it placed the Rev. Robert Thurner at a West St. Paul church because he already had admitted to top church officials, including then-Archbishop John Roach, that he'd sexually abused a 16-year-old boy at his previous church in Hopkins.

Attorney Jeff Anderson says the woman, identified only as Doe 23, was 7 or 8 at the time. He says she came forward amid fresh public criticism of how current archdiocese leaders have handled other sexual misconduct allegations.

Thurner does not have a listed phone number. The archdiocese did not immediately respond to requests for comment.