St. Mary’s Abbey investigating allegation against former headmaster
(Daily Record) MORRIS TWP. — St. Mary’s Abbey officials acknowledged Thursday that they are investigating an allegation of a “boundary violation” from two decades ago against the Rev. Luke Travers, a prominent priest who was a teacher and headmaster at the Delbarton School.
The acknowledgment came one day after Travers was removed from his job as part-time canonical administrator at another Benedictine abbey in Virginia. Church officials said he was removed from Mary Mother of the Church Abbey in Richmond after they received an email from a victim’s advocate in Washington state.
Hugh Anderson, president of the American Cassinese Congregation, part of the Benedictine order, said Thursday that he was aware of St. Mary’s investigation before Wednesday but decided to remove Travers because the email contained references to at least one other allegation of inappropriate behavior.
St. Mary’s officials acknowledged Thursday that an adult came to them last year with an allegation from two decades ago. They declined to go into details about the allegation or say whether they are investigating others mentioned in the email. They said that while an investigation continues, Travers is barred from having contact with young people under the age of 25 and from publicly celebrating Mass.
“An allegation involving a minor boundary violation with an adult by Father Luke Travers, O.S.B., is being investigated,” Abbot Giles P. Hayes, head of St. Mary’s, said in a prepared statement Thursday. He said in a separate statement that it would be “inappropriate to comment” on a matter that “involves potential litigation.”
Travers had been headmaster of Delbarton from 1999 to 2007 and taught history there until two years ago. He continued living at St. Mary’s while traveling to Virginia twice a month for the past two years. He did not respond to a message left at his St. Mary’s office on Thursday.
St. Mary’s officials said in the prepared statement that they reported an allegation to the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office, adding that “the conduct is not criminal and no criminal charges were issued.”
Capt. Jeffrey Paul, spokesman for Morris County Prosecutor Robert Bianchi, said his office has a policy not to comment on whether or not it’s conducting an investigation.
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