St. John’s Abbey Seeks to Block Public Release of Information about Fr. Timothy Backous in Hearing Tomorrow

(St. Cloud, MN) – In a hearing tomorrow in Stearns County District Court, St. John’s Abbey and Father Timothy Backous will ask the court to block attorneys Jeff Anderson and Mike Bryant from making Backous’ file public.

Anderson and Bryant represent Doe 188 and Doe 413, who were both sexually abused by Backous when they were children. St. John’s and Abbot Klassen have claimed repeatedly that Backous is innocent and have cleared Backous by two investigations. However, St. John’s refuses to make Backous’ file or the investigation reports public.

Both men filed lawsuits against Backous and St. John’s earlier this year. Doe 413 was abused by Backous as a student at St. John’s Prep in the early 1980s. Doe 188 was abused by Backous when he was a member of the St. John’s Boys Choir in in 1990. Doe 188’s parents reported their son’s abuse the following year and were promised Backous would no longer be allowed around children. Since then, Backous has held high profile jobs at St. John’s Prep and at St. John’s University, including head of the Prep School from 2006-2013.

Contact Jeff Anderson:  Office: 651.227.9990 Cell: 612.817.8665
Contact Mike Bryant: Office: 320.259.5414 Cell: 800.359.0061