NEW JERSEY/VIRGINIA
NBC New York

By Dena Potter

Thursday, Jan 12, 2012

A Benedictine monk who headed a Virginia abbey was removed from his position over allegations of sexual misconduct while he was assigned to a prestigious New Jersey preparatory school.

The Rev. Luke Travers was replaced Wednesday after a letter was sent to church officials outlining sexual misconduct claims by two male former students at New Jersey’s Delbarton School, an elite prep school attended by Gov. Chris Christie’s son. Travers was headmaster at Delbarton School from 1999 through 2007, and he taught at the school before and after that time.

One alleged victim claims that Travers grabbed his crotch and butt and asked him inappropriate questions about his girlfriend in the 1980s, when he was about 14. According to the letter, another claims that Travers “crossed boundaries which betrayed the inherent trust which is sacred to his position…