A former abbot at St. John’s Abbey in Minnesota is being accused of sexual abuse in a lawsuit for acts that occurred in the 1960s, while he was a parish priest in the Bronx, New York, as reported by Minnesota Public Radio News and other sources.
The accused, Reverend T.K., also founded a service organization during his career – one aimed at helping victims of clerical sex abuse.
The lawsuit has been filed in federal court naming T.K. for acts of child molestation – almost five decades after the alleged incidents occurred. The suit also names the Order of St. Benedict and St. John’s Abbey.
St. John’s Abbey is one of Minnesota’s widely recognized religious institutions.
The abuse allegedly occurred in 1966 and 1967 when T.K. worked as an associate pastor at New York’s St. Anselm Church and the victim, 15 or 16 at the time, was an altar boy.
The victim is now in his late 50s.
Attorneys for the plaintiff state that T.K. may have helped clerics keep their misconduct hidden when he was running St. John’s Abbey.
T.K. left the Abbey in 2000 and died in October 2010.
The abbey released a statement that partially read that they were “shocked and saddened” by the allegations made in the lawsuit.
The abbey also stated that they would immediately begin to investigate the charges.
A psychotherapist, and former abbey priest, R.S., stated that the victim contacted him after reading that T.K. had died.
R.S. helped T.K. set up the “Interfaith Sexual Trauma Institute” 18 years ago and acted as the chair. R.S. said of the service organization, “They set this program up that was supposed to do something.
And Abbot (T.K.) gave a beautiful statement when we were first all together, about, first of all, he wanted to do something with the monastery if there was any problem there. And as the months went on and the years went on, it was cover up, cover up, cover up.”
St. Paul attorney Jeffrey Anderson, with years of experience suing the Catholic Church on sex abuse charges, asked the abbey to disclose information on any and all potential victims. Of the 17 clerics acknowledged by St. John’s to have been accused of abuse, T.K.’s name wasn’t among them.
T.K. began his career in 1954 as a noviate in St. John’s. He worked as a parish priest, college professor, novice master and rector of the seminary before being elected abbot by the monks in 1992.
A monk, P.W., that was at St. John’s at the same time as T.K. but has since left the priesthood said, “We now have the chance to see the culture of secrecy at St. John’s, that this is part of monastic history. That this is an expression of monk’s disease, and it’s time for all the other kids that were abused by Father (T.K.) to come forward.”
Whether a member of the clergy abused you a year ago or forty years ago, contact a personal injury lawyer from our directory for help.