More details are expected Monday about five monks from Saint John’s Abbey who are accused of sexually abusing children.
Attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant plan on releasing files on the five monks, which were obtained after a 2013 lawsuit in Ramsey County. Files to be released include Robert Blumeyer, Cosmas Dahlheimer, Thomas Gillespie, Francis Hoefgen and Brennan Maiers, the attorneys say.
The attorneys will also announce a new sexual abuse lawsuit to be filed in Stearns County against a priest accused of abusing two boys back in the 1970s. The young boys were parishioners at St. Joseph’s when they say they were sexually abused at a cabin in northern Minnesota.
The lawsuit will name Richard Eckroth, the Order of St. Benedict and St. John’s Abbey, Anderson said.
Eckroth’s name was released in January in the Diocese of St. Cloud’s list of priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors. He was said to have worked at St. Benedict High School, St. Joseph; St. Augustine, St. Cloud; Seven Dolors, Albany; St. Raphael’s Convent, St. Cloud; St. Scholastica Convent, St. Cloud.
The diocese said Eckroth currently lives in Collegeville, Minnesota.
A news conference is scheduled for noon Monday.
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Files to be Released on 5 Monks Accused of Sexual Abuse
May 19, 2014
KSTP – 5