Hill Country monk convicted of molesting boy

JOHNSON CITY, Texas

Jurors found a monk guilty Wednesday of indecency with a child for his relations with a boy at Christ of the Hills Monastery near Blanco.

Jonathan I. Hitt, 38, known as Father Jeremiah, was convicted on eight counts stemming from incidents at the monastery in the summer of 1997.

The 14-year-old victim, who was a novice monk studying at the monastery in the Hill Country, testified during the weeklong trial that he had several sexual encounters with Hitt.

He accused Hitt of climbing naked into bed with him and kissing and hugging him.

Despite feeling awkward about the episodes, the youth testified he didn’t object on the advice of Sam A. Greene Jr., the spiritual leader of the religious enclave.

Greene, 54, known as Father Benedict, also was charged with indecency with a child. He hasn’t yet gone to trial.

As jurors deliberated in Hitt’s case, fellow monks from Christ of the Hills prayed for him on the Blanco County Courthouse lawn. Hitt could face from probation up to 20 years in prison. The punishment phase of his trial began Wednesday afternoon.

The teen-ager was a student at the monastery for more than three years. Assistant District Attorney Tom Cloudt told jurors in opening statements that Greene was the boy’s godfather and that the youth “was victimized by the people he trusted, the people he looked up to and the people he wanted to be like.”

The boy’s mother testified he had struggled in public school and that she had hoped the monks would provide individualized lessons and serve as father figures for him.

The woman also has filed a civil lawsuit against the two monks since the youth’s allegations have surfaced.

The court cases have caused the hilltop monastery to undergo close scrutiny the past few months. The Russian Orthodox Church recently broke ties with the monastery.

Christ of the Hills opened near Blanco in 1980 and is best known for its icon of the Virgin Mary that is said to weep tears of myrrh. The monastery promotes the image as a tourist attraction and invites the public to its sanctuary to see it.