Three women reveal monk on Caldey Island sexually abused them for decades

LONDON (ENGLAND)
International Business Times

November 18, 2017

By Nicole Rojas

The women sued Caldey Abbey for the abuse they suffered, requesting acknowledgement, an apology and compensation.

Three women have come forward to allege they were sexually abused by a monk living on Caldey Island, off the Welsh Coast at Tenby. The women claim Father Thaddeus Kotik sexually abused them as children during the 1970s and 1980s.

In August 2016, the women launched civil proceedings against the Cistercian order for personal injuries. The court documents claim Kotik abused six girls between 1972 and 1987 while at the Italianate Abbey of Our Lady and St Samson. However, the women believe there may be more victims.

Kotik, a former soldier with the Free Polish army during WWII, was ordained a priest in the order 1956. According to the Guardian, Kotik appears to have never been questioned by police and died in 1992.

According to court documents, Kotik befriended families who visited the island, as well as the farming families who lived there full time. He would give them handmade chocolates and produce to gain the trust of the families.

Kotik is said to have lured girls to places where he would not be detected, including a room near the abbey’s dairy and in isolated rocky coves by the beach. While babysitting children, he allegedly would pull sleepy girls towards him and sexually assault them.

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