MINNESOTA
Star Tribune
By Jean Hopfensperger Star Tribune APRIL 28, 2016
A well-known St. John’s Abbey monk, the Rev. Timothy Backous, is accused of sexually abusing two boys decades ago in lawsuits filed Thursday in St. Paul.
It was the second time in recent weeks that a St. John’s monk was sued after being suspended from ministry and then cleared by the abbey. The Rev. Thomas Andert, former abbey prior, also was sued by two men after being cleared by the abbey last November.
Both monks were former headmasters at St. John’s Preparatory School.
“St. John’s claimed to have done a thorough and complete investigation in both cases,” said victims’ attorney Jeff Anderson at a news conference Thursday. Instead, he said, it was “an investigation designed by them to protect the accused offender.”
One of the suits announced Thursday stemmed from incidents during a 1990 St. John’s boys choir trip to Europe. The other suit was filed by a man who alleges that he was abused by Backous as a young teen at the prep school in early 1980s.
The abbey suspended Backous from ministry last year while investigating the choir trip, then reinstated him last November after finding the allegations unsubstantiated.
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