ST. CLOUD — The former prior of St. John’s Abbey in central Minnesota sexually abused two prep school students in the 1970s and early ‘80s, two new lawsuits allege.

The lawsuits, filed Monday in Stearns County District Court, come after the abbey and its review board earlier this year cleared the Rev. Thomas Andert, saying the allegations against him were unsubstantiated, the St. Cloud Times reported. Andert is not charged with any crime and his name has never been on the abbey’s list of those with credible allegations against them of the abuse of minors.

But attorney Jeff Anderson said at a news conference Tuesday that abbey investigators never interviewed the plaintiff in one of the lawsuits before declaring the allegations unsubstantiated.

That plaintiff, Todd Belrose, who now lives in Florida, spoke at the news conference. The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify people who say they were sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Belrose has done.

A second lawsuit, filed by a plaintiff identified only as John Doe 324, names the same defendants: Andert, St. John’s Abbey, the Order of St. Benedict and St. John’s Prep School. John Doe 324 accuses Andert of abuse in 1970 or 1971, while Belrose accuses him of abuse in 1979 or 1980.

Belrose’s lawsuit also alleges he was abused by the Rev. Allen Tarlton, who’s been the subject of several abuse lawsuits and died earlier this year. Both plaintiffs were 14 at the time of the alleged abuse and attended St. John’s Prep.

As prior, Andert held the No. 2 position at the abbey behind Abbot John Klassen. The abbey issued a statement denying the allegations and saying it intends to defend both cases. It said Belrose was contacted multiple times during its investigation but refused to give an interview or provide a statement. Andert does not have a listed phone number and couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Belrose said he never finished his first year of school after the abuse and tried to kill himself. He said he has lived the last 35 years “in pain, mostly because I thought that I was alone and nothing could be done.”

Klassen restored Andert to ministry after the review board cleared him. Andert was at the end of his term as prior and chose to resign from the post “in order to move forward.”