MINNESOTA
Pioneer Press
By RICHARD CHIN | rchin@pioneerpress.com
April 12, 2016
Two lawsuits against St. John’s Abbey — accusing a former prior of child sexual abuse decades ago — have been filed in Stearns County, a St. Paul law firm announced Tuesday.
The lawsuits allege that St. John’s Abbey former prior and No. 2 leader, the Rev. Tom Andert, abused Todd Belrose, then a 14-year-old student at St. John’s Preparatory School in Collegeville, in 1979 or 1980.
The lawsuits also accuse Allen Tarlton, a monk at St. John’s Abbey, of abusing Belrose in about 1979 or 1980. Tarlton died in January.
Another plaintiff, identified as Doe 324, accused Andert of sexual abuse in 1970 to 1971 when Doe 324 was a 14-year-old student at St. John’s Prep. Doe 324’s lawsuit also says he was molested at the same time by Bruce Wollmering, a St. John’s Abbey priest and monk who is now dead.
Belrose’s lawyer, Jeff Anderson, said Belrose originally wrote a letter to St. John’s Abbey accusing Andert of abuse in July 2015.
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