A monk associated with the Russian Orthodox Church turned himself into police in Kodiak to report that he had sexually abused a child, according to the Alaska Department of Law, which said he arrived to make the report accompanied by a priest and a parent of the child.
The man faces a felony sexual abuse of a minor charge, an online court records system shows. The department, in a statement Friday, said the man was being held on bond and faces another court hearing later this month.
The public defender agency, which the records system shows is defending the man, didn’t immediately return a phone message seeking comment.
The department said the man, as a monk, was allowed to stay at church-provided housing.
Police have found that he also had stayed in several other Alaska communities and at a monastery near Phoenix, Arizona, the department said.