A former priest who served a stint at St. Theodore Catholic Church in the 1960s is facing multiple allegations of sexual abuse against children over a 20-year period.

St. Paul lawyer Jeff Anderson on Wednesday announced he filed a civil lawsuit in Ramsey County on behalf of a 51-year-old Twin Cities man against former Rev. Thomas Adamson. It also names the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona as defendants.

Adamson served in the Albert Lea parish in 1967 and 1968, at which time he was also the chaplain of Lea College, an institution of higher learning on the west side of Albert Lea that shut down in 1973. He came to the city from an administrative position in Hammond, and after leaving Albert Lea, he was moved to St. Lawrence O’Toole in Fountain and St. Kilian’s in Wykoff.

A news release from the Jeff Anderson & Associates firm states Adamson was moved to 15 locations during a 20-year period, allegedly molesting boys in almost every parish he served.

It also alleges the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona concealed or ignored Adamson’s alleged abuse of children, in turn endangering children and the public safety.

“Today marks another step toward holding institutions accountable for protecting abusers instead of protecting kids,” said Jim Fitzpatrick, a retired priest who reported abuse by Adamson in 1963. “Instead of removing Father Adamson after he admitted to abusing numerous boys, the Archdiocese and the Diocese of Winona moved him from parish to parish and allowed him to continue his pattern of abuse.”

Fitzpatrick, who was a priest for a short time in Austin, reported Adamson’s alleged abuse to the bishop after hearing accusations from parents in Winona and from boys in Caledonia.

“Three sets of parents came to me and talked about the abuse of Father Adamson of their sons, as well as other junior high school boys in Caledonia,” Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said Adamson’s actions were “common knowledge” among priests, and the dioceses appeared to have moved Adamson to a new parish, as far as they could, each time new allegations arose.

According to the release, Adamson served in the following places:

• 1958-61: St. Casimir Parish and Cotter High School in Winona

• 1961-62: St. Adrian Parish and St. Adrian’s High School in Adrian

• 1962-63: Lourdes High School, Rochester

• 1963-64: St. John’s Parish, Caledonia

• 1964-67: Lourdes High School, Rochester

• 1966-67: Administrator, Hammond

• 1967-68: St. Theodore Catholic Church and Lea College, Albert Lea

• 1968-71: St. Lawrence O’Toole, Fountain; St. Kilian’s, Wykoff

• 1971-74: St. Francis, Rochester

• 1975: Graduate studies, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis

• 1975-76: St. Leo the Great, St. Paul

• 1976: St. Boniface, St. Bonifacius

• 1976-79: St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Paul Park

• 1979-80: Immaculate Conception, Columbia Heights

• 1981-85: Risen Savior, Apple Valley

The lawsuit was the first filed under the new Minnesota Child Victims Act, signed into law last week, which eliminates the civil statute of limitations for sexual abuse victims.

It also seeks a court order for the disclosure of 46 priests from the Archdiocese of St. Paul-Minneapolis and the Diocese of Winona, who had “credible complaints” of sexual abuse made against them.

Anderson said the state’s children continue to be at great peril until the list is released.

“Once the list is released, we can make sure sexual abuse is not being swept under the rug and that all victims of abuse in Minnesota can begin to heal,” Anderson said.

The Rev. Timothy Reker of the St. Theodore parish declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Both the Winona diocese and the Twin Cities archdiocese said they are committed to ensuring children’s safety.

The lawsuit alleges that Adamson, while working at St. Thomas Aquinas parish in St. Paul Park, “engaged in unpermitted sexual contact” between 1976 and 1977 with the plaintiff, who was a teenage altar boy at the time.

According to the lawsuit, Adamson had “unlimited access” to children at St. Thomas Aquinas, even though the archdiocese knew or should have known that Adamson had “sexually molested dozens of boys, admitted to molesting boys, that he committed offenses at almost every parish he served, and that Adamson was a danger to them.”

Joel Hennessy, director of mission advancement at the Winona diocese, said Adamson was removed from the priesthood about 2007, and had not been an active member of the clergy since the early 1980s.

A home telephone number could not be located for Adamson, now 78 and believed to be living in Rochester. Last year the Diocese of Winona barred him from all diocese parishes and schools.

Adamson was ordained a priest in the Winona diocese in 1958 and served in parishes there until 1975, when he was transferred to the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. He has never faced criminal abuse charges, since the statute of limitations on criminal charges has expired.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.