Jury Awards $4.8M to Rochester Clergy Abuse Survivor

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - An Olmsted County jury has awarded more than $4.8 million in damages to a man who was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in Rochester.

According to court documents, a student at Lourdes High School in the early to mid-1970s was sexually abused by Father Joseph Cashman, who was the principal of the Catholic high school at the time. The documents indicate the victim was in the 9th and 10th grades when the abuse occurred multiple times between 1972 and 1974.

photo by Andy Brownell

Abuse Occurred in the 1970s at Lourdes High School

The sexual abuse allegations were first reported in 1991, which was after the statute of limitations to bring a lawsuit had expired. That changed in 2013 when the Minnesota Legislature approved the Minnesota Child Victims Act. The law opened a window allowing victims of childhood sexual abuse to file lawsuits even after the statute of limitations had expired.

The Jury Was Only Asked to Decide the Damages in the Case

The victim filed a personal injury lawsuit against the Diocese of Rochester-Winona in 2023, seeking damages for the abuse inflicted on him. The jury instructions stated that the Diocese admitted it “negligently breached a duty to protect (victim) from sexual abuse by Cashman” and that it “negligently supervised and retained Cashman.”

Through his lawsuit, the victim requested damages for physical, psychological, and emotional harm. The jury in the case was not asked to determine whether the victim had been abused by the priest but was only asked to decide the amount of damages.

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The Catholic Diocese previously provided $22 million to compensate victims of clergy sexual abuse through a settlement approved by a federal bankruptcy court in 2021. Another $6.5 million was contributed by insurance companies to a trust fund established to pay out damages to victims.

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