Austin American-Statesman reporter Molly Bloom's 15 December 2006 report on the settlement of a lawsuit brought by James Wright Jr. against the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), monastery founder Samuel Greene Jr., and a monastery monk, over sexual abuse Wright alleged occurred at Christ of the Hills Monastery in Blanco County, Texas, between April 1998 and February 1999, when he was 16 and 17. The roughly $500,000 settlement was reached without an admission of wrongdoing; a second monk and Ecumenical Monks Inc. did not settle. The article recounts the monastery's earlier 1999 investigation, which followed abuse allegations involving a 13 year old boy and led to the arrests of Greene and monk Jonathan Hitt, who was convicted and received a ten year prison sentence; Greene separately pleaded guilty in 2000 to indecency and was sentenced to ten years probation. ROCOR had severed ties with the monastery amid the 1999 allegations, after an affiliation dating to 1991.
Facts
Assessment
Reliability Tier1
Tier 1: a major daily newspaper's own reporting on a court settlement and prior criminal convictions, archived in full by bishop-accountability.org, a specialized clergy-abuse documentation project, and cross-checked against independent contemporaneous coverage (NBC News, Texas Monthly, an AP wire report carried by the Houston Chronicle) that converges on the same two convictions and sentences. NotesFive individuals were reported as charged in connection with the case; only two, Samuel Greene and Jonathan Hitt, are documented here with confirmed convictions and sentences, which is this atlas's bar for naming an individual, so only those two are named anywhere in this entry. The other three entered not-guilty pleas at arraignment in a separate 2006 indictment, and no confirmed final disposition was found for any of them.
Citation
AuthorMolly Bloom
PublisherAustin American-Statesman
Publication Year2006
URLhttps://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2006/11_12/2006_12_15_Bloom_BlancoMonks.htm
Source Typenews feature
Cross-Tradition Connections
Associated With
This source names Russia directly: "against the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), monastery founder Samuel Greene Jr., and a monastery monk, over sexual abuse Wright alleged occurred at Christ of the Hills Monastery..."
This source names Russian Orthodox directly: "against the Russian Orthodox Church Outside of Russia (ROCOR), monastery founder Samuel Greene Jr., and a monastery monk, over sexual abuse Wright alleged occurred at Christ of the Hills Monastery..."
This source names Texas directly: "the Hills Monastery in Blanco County, Texas, between April 1998 and February 1999, when he was 16 and 17."
Claims Backed By This Source (33 claims)
This source backs 33 claims across the atlas. As facts: 22 well-attested. As cited relationships: 6 holds, 2 connected. Plus 3 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.
Disposition By Topic
- Abuse Inquiries and Response Policies, 12 claims: 8 well-attested, 3 holds, 1 general references.
- Sources, 11 claims: 8 well-attested, 3 holds.
- Articles, 6 claims: 4 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.
- Denominations, 4 claims: 2 well-attested, 1 connected, 1 general references.
Well-attested
22Abuse Inquiries and Response Policies
Holds
6Abuse Inquiries and Response Policies
General References
3Abuse Inquiries and Response Policies
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