ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune

By Rosemary Regina Sobol
Tribune reporter
3:00 p.m. CDT, April 27, 2013

A judge set bail today at $50,000 for a long-time Benedictine monk accused of trying to abduct a 14-year-old girl in far north suburban Antioch this week.

Thomas M. Chmura, 57, of the 12600 block of 224th Avenue in Benet Lake, Wis., appeared in Lake County court today in Waukegan where a judge set the $50,000 bail and ordered him to have no contact with anyone under the age of 17, according to a statement from Antioch police.

Chmura was charged with one count of felony attempted child abduction and one count of disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, according to the statement.

Chmura said he is a monk and has been living at the Benedictine Monks, St. Benedict’s Abbey, in Benet Lake for the past 32 years, the statement said.