One-time abbey head held in Missouri

Background

In 2011 a man calling himself the Rev. Ryan St. Anne purchased the former Buchanan County Care Center and began converting it into what he called Buchanan Abbey.

St. Anne and a colleague tended about 20 Argentine llamas, which they said would become part of their healing ministry.

When the abbey began hosting Mass and other religious services, the Archdiocese of Dubuque warned its faithful 'to exercise great caution in relating to” Buchanan Abbey and said it had no evidence that St. Anne had ever been ordained a Catholic priest.

What has happened since

Missouri authorities have filed criminal charges against Ryan St. Anne Scott Gevelinger, who was arrested March 31 at the putative abbey he was operating in Armstrong, Mo.

Authorities charged him with one felony and two misdemeanor counts of financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person. As of Wednesday, he remained in jail in lieu of $150,000 cash bond.

The court also ordered him to have no contact with Patricia Baldridge, the elderly Benton County, Iowa, widow he is accused of attempting to defraud.

Baldridge had resided at the so-called abbey in Armstrong, and financially supported its operation, according to a probable cause statement filed March 31 in Howard County Circuit Court in Fayette, Mo.

That statement, authored by Russell Harrison, a Howard County reserve deputy who learned of St. Anne's actions in his capacity as a notary public, accused St. Anne of an ongoing effort 'to gain control of Baldridge's assets through intimidation, deception, thought control, lies and other unsavory means.”

Harrison said St. Anne asked him to notarize an addition to Baldridge's trust that listed St. Anne as a beneficiary with a larger share of the estate than any of her seven children. The document also designated St. Anne as the estate's successor trustee, enabling him to control key aspects of the eventual settlement.

Harrison said Baldridge, in telephone conversations, expressed concern, ambivalence and misgivings about the trust revisions.

At Baldridge's request, local law enforcement officials helped her leave St. Anne's Armstrong premises without incident on March 6, according to the probable cause statement.

Harrison said investigators believe Baldridge had been 'unduly influenced” to give up as much as $80,000.

Family members took Baldridge to Iowa, where she is residing with one of her daughters, he said.

St. Anne left Iowa in 2012 following Buchanan County's repossession of the property after St. Anne missed repeated deadlines for acquiring liability insurance, according to Buchanan County Supervisor Ellen Gaffney.

The supervisors later sold the property to Matt Hopkins of Cedar Rapids.