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NEWS / WEDNESDAY, JULY 21, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
NATIONAL
Special Olympics Missouri suspends ex-priest for sex abuse
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A former Roman Catholic priest who was part of a $5 million sex abuse settlement in Wisconsin two decades ago was suspended from a volunteer position with Special Olympics Missouri and has admitted some of the abuse.
Mark Musso, president and CEO of Special Olympics Missouri, said the former priest, Tom Ericksen, 62, of Kansas City, was suspended indefinitely last week after the organization learned of the 1989 settlement with the Diocese of Superior, Wis.
Ericksen admitted in an interview with The Associated Press on Monday that he had fondled three boys but denied having contact with a fourth child involved in the settlement. He said the settlement totaled about $5 million.
"I just fondled and stuff like that," Ericksen said during the interview in the lobby of his Kansas City apartment building.
"But I can't say I didn't do inappropriate things. ... But I never had sex" with them, he said. Ericksen also said he has not abused any children since leaving the priesthood, including Special Olympians.
"They think of me as an ogre. That I did this many more times. But I haven't," he said.
Ericksen said he had been volunteering with Special Olympics Missouri for about five years.
Bishop Peter Christensen of the Diocese of Superior was out of the office Monday and did not return a
call seeking comment.
The settlement was a civil matter and no criminal charges were ever filed against Ericksen. Such charges could have triggered some online databases that track sexual offenders.
Musso noted that nothing turned up in a background check on Ericksen when he applied to volunteer. Musso said Ericksen's duties typically included checking in volunteers at area games and he was never "in any role in which he'd have direct access to athletes."
The settlement came to light recently when two men came forward to say Ericksen had abused them when he was pastor at their Wisconsin parish. Musso said Ericksen was suspended the day that Special Olympics Missouri learned of the settlement.
Ericksen left Wisconsin in 1983 and was removed from the priesthood in 1988. He said he first moved to Minneapolis, where he worked for AT&T as a customer service representative, and moved to Kansas City in 2005.
He began volunteering with Special Olympics Missouri soon after he arrived in Kansas City.
"It's my way of ministering now" he said.
The Duluth News Tribune has reported that two victims want Wisconsin prosecutors to file charges against Ericksen. Neither men responded to messages left at phone numbers listed in their names. Sawyer County District Attorney Tom Van Roy also did not return a call seeking comment.
When Emily Marotta planned her study-abroad trip to the colonial town of Puebla, Mexico, she didn't expect her excitement to be stifled by a strict University policy that prevents travel to countries on the State Department travel advisory list.
The 18 students expecting to stay in Puebla for their summer pro
gram were unable to do so after the State Department reissued a travel warning April 12, forcing the Office of Study Abroad to suspend the program. Sue Lorenz, director of the Office of Study Abroad, would not
ACADEMICS
KU nixes Mexico summer abroad
BY MEGAN RUPP
mrupp@kansan.com
account for all of the students, but said Marotta and 14 other students were diverted to San Jose, Costa Rica.
"It's a very, very large city. It's dirty, it's loud, it's polluted and there's a lot of people," said Marotta, who had already been to Costa Rica and was looking for a different study abroad experience. "A smaller town was more of the experience I wanted because you're able to create relationships with people who live there. I came back with no friends from Costa Rica."
"I can see the disappointment.
Lorenz said the office did all that it could to give the students the closest possible experience to the Mexico trip.
"I can see the disappointment, but it's just not worth the risk."
Marotta said despite the change, she appreciated the Office of Study Abroad's involvement in ensuring she could earn the same course credit in Costa Rica. As a senior, she said earning the appropriate credits was her first priority and office administrators were helpful in ensuring she met graduation requirements as a Spanish and Latin American Studies major.
but it's just not worth the risk," Lorenz said. "Every country offers its own special thing, but we were able to give the students the academic coursework they needed in a Spanish-language-speaking country with no loss of money to them."
SUE LORENZ
Director of Office of Study Abroad
The travel advisory warned Americans against traveling to specific Mexican cities, all of which were northern border towns. Puebla is located in south-central Mexico.
more than 1,000 miles from the cities listed in the travel advisory.
Lorenz said the Office of Study abroad was forced to cancel the program because of an umbrella policy that allowed for no "geographical
discretion" The policy has received criticism for its inflexible regulations. Lorenz said she would gladly take the criticism of being too cautious rather than risk the safety of any student the University was responsible for.
"If we allowed exceptions and
an incident did occur, wed be criticized for sending, people anyway," Lorenz said.
She said that with more than 600 students abroad this summer, it would be irresponsible to "take a calculated risk." She said sending students to a place that may have a violent environment could distract the office from doing its best in ensuring the best service to students in other programs.
Last summer the program was canceled because of H1N1 concerns, but Lorenz said the University plans
to re-establish the Puebla program again next summer. She said the threat of drug cartels and other violence affected student mobility, as well as the interplay between the U.S. and Mexican economies.
"The current violence relates to competition over trade routes to the U.S. market," said Stuart Day, Chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. "Despite the fact that much of the narcovice in Mexico is seen in seven states, including the central state of Michoacán, I understand that Study Abroad has a major responsibility to the safety of our students."
JOSE LUIS MACHORRO Puebla Recruitment Advisor
"Puebla is the second safest city in the country, so we don't face the problems of drug cartels present in border towns like Monterrey."
When the University suspended the program scheduled in Puebla, it also pulled the fee paid to Universidad de las Americas Puebla for the use of its facilities. For administrators in Puebla, the economic withdrawal is not near as damaging as the effect on the university's reputation.
"We are a very international university, so misconceptions like this really do damage our image," said Jose Luis Machorro, Puebla recruitment advisor. "Puebla is the second safest city in the country, so we don't face the problems of drug
cartels present in border towns like Monterrey"
Luis Machorro said this is the second year American universities have chosen not to follow through with its programs. He said the university understood the obligation to protect students, but hoped the generalized fear
did not become a habit.
"It's like us issuing a danger warning for the U.S. because there's a concern in Seattle that doesn't allow our students to go to Sacramento," Luis Macharro said. "It just doesn't seem to make much sense."