ROCHESTER, Minn. –A jury has ordered the Diocese of Winona to pay a man $4.8 million for sexual abuse by a priest.

In July 2023, the plaintiff filed a lawsuit claiming he had been sexually abused by Father Joseph Cashman between 1972 and 1974 when the plaintiff was a minor and Father Cashman was a Roman Catholic priest employed by the Diocese. The sexual abuse allegedly happened while the plaintiff attended Lourdes High School.

Both Rochester Catholic Schools and Lourdes High School had been named as defendants in the lawsuit, but were removed after reaching undisclosed settlements with the plaintiff.

Cashman was ordained as a priest in 1960 and worked in parishes throughout southern Minnesota. The Diocese of Winona says it learned of allegations of sexual misconduct against Cashman i

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