Friday, October 22, 2004

Elderly Alabama Monk Indicted in 1970 Rape

From al.com: NewsFlash - Elderly Alabama monk indicted in 1970 sexual assault:



Grand jurors indicted an 82-year-old monk in an alleged rape in 1970 that a would-be nun said occurred at St. Bernard's Abbey but wasn't reported for decades.

Benedictine monk Ignatius Kane was arrested Oct. 10 on a charge of first-degree rape.



Defense lawyer Rusty Turner said Kane is back at the abbey after being released from jail on $30,000 bond.



"We'll mount a vigorous defense and we believe he'll be exonerated," said Turner.



Kane had polio as a child and has been confined by health problems, including a stroke. Formerly the abbey librarian, Kane is now mostly bedridden.



Anne McInnis, 55, of Memphis, Tenn., said Kane raped her in the abbey library in 1970 at a retreat to consider whether she should become a nun. She told her story publicly in The Birmingham News last year but said she did not report the assault to anyone in 1970.


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