HUDSON - The Hudson-based co-founder of a local clergy child sex abuse survivors' network said Wednesday he's "disillusioned" at an inconclusive ruling on his case by a panel of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque.

An archdiocesan review board said there was insufficient evidence to prove or disprove allegations that Steve Theisen of Hudson was abused by a Roman Catholic nun while attending grade school in Dubuque in the early 1960s.

"They didn't take very courageous action," Theisen said of the board and archdiocesan officials.

Officially, the board ruled the case as "not sustained" due to insufficient evidence, as opposed an "unfounded" or false allegation, or one which is "exonerated" because the action was deemed "not unlawful or inappropriate." The board also had the option of concluding the allegation was "sustained" or likely to have occurred, which may have resulted in further action.

The review board reached its conclusion even though a diocesan-retained private investigator formerly employed by the Dubuque County Sheriff's Office found Theisen's allegations to be "credible" after interviewing principals in the case, including his alleged abuser.

"I don't consider this a loss or defeat," said Theisen, a former Dubuque police officer and co-founder of the Northeast Iowa chapter of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP. "I consider this a loss to the people in the pews that want the bishop to do the right thing. I think it's a loss for the children.

"At least they don't believe my abuse to be 'unfounded,' nor did they exonerate my abuser," said Theisen, now a self-employed safety consultant living in Hudson.

Theisen had asked Dubuque Archbishop Jerome Hanus for a list of the dates and locations where his alleged abuser taught, and whether she had received any mental health treatment.

In June 3 letter to Theisen, Hanus said the archdiocese does not have records of clergy who are members of religious orders, as opposed to archdiocesan-employed priests or other archdiocesan personnel. Hanus said he, as archbishop, did not have the right to demand those records from religious orders, which answer directly to the Vatican and the pope.

"The archbishop's claim of 'default' to the Vatican indicated the archbishop is unwilling to protect children from pedophiles who rape and molest children within religious men and women organizations that operate within the Archdiocese of Dubuque and with the archbishop's blessings," Theisen wrote in a prepared statement.

"Reporting to the Vatican is not going to protect children," Theisen said. "There's at least an ocean between us, several time zones and a language barrier. That's like someone in the public schools reporting their abuse to the Rome Police Department."

The Rev. Msgr. James Barta, vicar general of the archdiocese, said Hanus is interested in protecting children

"The inability to do something - in this case, to get recourse from the religious order - doesn't follow that he (Hanus) isn't interested," Barta said. "All the other things the archbishop has done should indicate he is very interested in protecting children," as well as the time and attention devoted to Theisen's case, in process for more than a year.

Barta also has noted the alleged abuser is now advanced in age, has been retired for several years and "not doing anything that would bring her in contact with children."

The archdiocese has acted on other previous allegations. In early 2002, Dubuque archdiocesan officials removed the Rev. Allen Schmitt from duties at three Allamakee County parishes after a credible accusation surfaced against him. The action stemmed from an incident in the late 1970s at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cedar Rapids and, subsequent to his removal, another incident earlier at Sacred Heart Church in Waterloo.

Also, in 2000, the archdiocese removed Rev. Michael Fitzgerald from St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Marion after inappropriate Internet chat room activity with a member of a sexual abuse watchdog group posing as a 13-year-old boy. Other sexual abuse allegations surfaced later. Fitzgerald, who served at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Cedar Falls, died in a car crash in 2001 in Illinois.

In late December, Hanus wrote to Northeast Iowa Catholics that 26 priests were accused of abusing children from 1950 to 2002. Those allegations arose from the accounts of 67 victims, including 55 boys and 12 girls. Hanus also said officials in the church sometimes failed to stop the abuse, which contributed to more children being victimized.

Theisen believes those numbers, like similar national figures, are low. He also said the church should make abusers' names public and inform every school or church in which they served.

Theisen, who is receiving counseling at archdiocesan expense, brought his case before the archdiocesan review board, formed in 2002 for victims of sexual abuse within the church. He has also been contacted by diocesan-appointed victim assistance coordinators, in keeping with a more detailed policy for handling complaints adopted about a year ago. That action follows mandates from a national bishops conference in Dallas. The previous archdiocesan policy, about 10 years old, had resulted in the conviction and imprisonment of a Dubuque priest in 1997.

Theisen has the option of taking civil action in his case, but said he has not consulted an attorney.