Lawsuit Seeks Internal Reports Of Abusive Monks

ST. PAUL (AP) — Attorneys for two men are suing St. John's Abbey and a priest over alleged sexual abuse that happened 40 years ago.

Attorney Jeff Anderson filed the lawsuit in Stearns County Monday. Anderson is seeking the full release of the abbey's files on abusive priests and monks.

In addition to the abbey, the lawsuit names the Rev. Richard Eckroth, who took dozens of children to a St. John's-owned cabin near Bemidji during the 1970s. The two men allege Eckroth sexually abused them at the cabin when they were boys.

Eckroth has previously denied abusing children. An abbey spokesman said in a statement that sorting out the truth of the allegations against Eckroth is complicated by his advanced dementia.