Authorities: Monk in Alaska faces child sexual abuse charge

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Department of Law says a monk associated with the Russian Orthodox Church turned himself into police in Kodiak to report that he had sexually abused a child. The department, in a statement, says he arrived to make the report accompanied by a priest and a parent of the child. An online court records system shows the man is charged with sexual abuse of a minor. A message was left for the public defender agency, which the records system shows is defending the monk. The department says the man, as a monk, was allowed to stay at church-provided housing. It says police have found that he stayed at times in the Alaska communities of Anchorage, Bethel, Eklutna, Homer and Kaktovik, and at a monastery near Phoenix, Arizona.