A second civil lawsuit has been filed in Stearns County Court against the Benedictine Order at St. John’s Abbey in St. Cloud. It accuses members of the order of covering up the alleged sexual abuse of a teenage boy in the 1980s. The late Rev. Bruce Wollmering, the Rev. Finnian McDonald and Brother John Kelly are named in the suit. The alleged victim’s lawyer, Patrick Noaker, said his client now lives on the West Coast.
Noaker detailed the accusations in a statement:
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Between 1984-1986, through his “role of psychologist, counselor and/or spiritual advisor,” Wollmering “deceived” Doe into “engaging in sexual contact with him under the guise of providing religious instruction and emotional counseling.”
Between roughly 1984-1986, “while a faculty member, faculty resident, spiritual guide and/or holy authority figure to Doe,” Kelly engaged in illegal sexual contact with Doe.
Between approximately 1985-1986, while heading the academic advisory program, McDonald sexually solicited and exploited Doe, by “soliciting sexual contact with him, attempted to sexually batter him, and sexually exploited him.”
Another former St. John’s student, Jeramiah “Jerry” D. McCarthy, sued the school and St. John’s Abbey last week, accusing the school and abbey of knowing that Wollmering had been abusing a child, and concealing the allegations against Wollmering. McCarthy says he was abused by Wollmering in 1971.
Another child sexual abuse lawsuit targets St. John’s
CityPages.com
by Hart Van Denburg
Thu., Dec. 17 2009
