Catholic monk arrested in Kosovo over child sex abuse allegations after 5 years on the run
By CHARLIE MOORE FOR MAILONLINE
A Catholic monk wanted over child sex abuse allegations has been arrested in Kosovo after five years on the run.
Laurence Soper went into hiding after being investigated for alleged sex offences at Catholic Ealing Abbey in London from 1991 to 2000.
Following allegations by a former pupil, Soper was arrested in Rome and questioned by appointment by the Metropolitan Police in September 2010.
However, investigators allowed him to retain his passport and did not take a picture, asking him through his solicitor to return to London from Italy where he worked.
Instead, after leaving St Anselmo Church on March 4, 2011, apparently to fly to Heathrow, Soper skipped bail and vanished.
He has now been apprehended in Pec, Kosovo after a European Arrest Warrant was issued for him in 2012.
The extradition process to return him to the UK is reportedly underway.
A Met Police spokesman said: 'We are aware of the arrest and we are liaising with the relevant authorities'.
A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokeswoman said: 'Our Embassy is providing assistance following the arrest of a British National in Peja, Kosovo on Wednesday 11 May.'
According to Albanian news outlet Albeu, Soper lived in Pec for years under the name Andrew Insajderit.
'He lived in a house of a friend of mine. I have spoken and met with him several times. He said he was writing a book,' a resident told the outlet.
Having worked for nearly 30 years at St Benedict’s, a £12,000-a-year private school attached to the Abbey, now-expelled monk Soper quit Britain in 2001 for Rome to become treasurer at the Benedictine Order's headquarters at St Anselmo.
Hmmm. How did he support himself for 5 years in Kosovo? Is it possible he hid some money away while handling the books?
A source close to the investigation said in 2012: 'He knew he was about to be charged.'
Long Island Catholic priest suspended amid ‘credible’ child sex-abuse accusation
The Rev. James Williams has been suspended from his priestly duties, the Marianist society said Friday. (WILLIE ANDERSON/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
BY RICH SCHAPIRO, NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
The ex-president of a prestigious Long Island Catholic high school has been suspended from serving as a priest after sex abuse allegations involving a former student were found credible.
The Rev. James Williams, who resigned from Chaminade High School in 2011, had denied the accusations that he preyed on a student that same year.
But a “vigorous, thorough and comprehensive investigation” by the Marianist order “deemed them to be credible,” the order said in a statement on the Chaminade website.
In February, the order contacted the Nassau district attorney’s office, and an investigation was launched, Newsday reported.
Williams, the former president of Long Island’s prestigious Chaminade High School, was sidelined as the Marianist order investigates sex abuse claims leveled against him. (JULIA XANTHOS/NEW YORK DAILY NEWS)
The victim, who was legally an adult at the time of the alleged abuse, declined to pursue criminal charges, a DA spokesman told Newsday. Even if the victim had chosen otherwise, the two-year statute of limitations for misdemeanor sexual abuse had already expired in 2013.
Attempts to reach Williams were unsuccessful.
The priest had served as president of the all-boys institution since 1999. “We believe our actions reflect the solemn promise we have made to ensure the protection of the young men entrusted to us, our highest priority,” the Marianists said.
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