Judge Keeps Bond Level High for Fake Monk in Missouri

By Dennis Magee
WCF Courier
April 13, 2015

http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/judge-keeps-bond-level-high-for-fake-monk-in-missouri/article_3c316e5f-9d68-5c95-ac1f-164e85dffd65.html

Ryan Gevelinger

The fake monk arrested recently in Howard County in Missouri must remain in jail until he produces $150,000 for bail, cash only.

The judge assigned Ryan St. Anne Scott's case refused a request April 7 to reduce the amount, according to court records.

Scott, charged as Ryan St. Anne Gevelinger, created a long-running legal mess several years ago involving bankruptcies in Iowa and Illinois, a lawsuit, a herd of registered llamas and the former Buchanan County home near Independence.

At that time, Scott referred to himself as the Most Rev. and Lord Abbott Ryan St. Anne Scott, and he was attempting to establish an alleged religious community. Multiple officials in multiple Catholic dioceses, including Dubuque, emphatically denounced Scott, however, as neither a Benedictine monk or a Catholic priest.

Scott faces three counts of financial exploitation of an elderly or disabled person in Missouri. One count is a Class A felony because Scott allegedly received property worth more than $50,000.

The offense is punishable by 10 to 30 years in prison.

The remaining two counts are Class B felonies because they represent attempts to get a person's property, according to Stephen Murrell, prosecuting attorney for Howard County.

The offenses are each punishable by five to 15 years in prison.

Judge Mason Gebhardt set May 1 for a preliminary hearing. The state at that point must prove probable cause and enough evidence exists for prosecution to proceed, according to Murrell.

The hearing will include testimony, according to Murrell.

According to court documents and officials, Scott after leaving Iowa bought or was buying a former Methodist church in Armstrong, Mo. He lived on the property in a double-wide mobile home with two followers, Patricia Baldridge and Roseanna Gevelinger.

Gevelinger adopted Scott several years ago when he was about 60 years old.

Baldridge is from rural Benton County. She was apparently supporting Scott's group financially, according to Sheriff Mike Neal in Missouri.

According to court documents, Scott tried to get Baldridge to sell her family's farm in Benton County. He also attempted to get Baldridge to change terms of her revocable trust to include Scott's alleged religious group as a recipient.

Despite filing corporate bankruptcy in Illinois and personal bankruptcy in Iowa and Missouri, Scott apparently retained his own attorney, Matthew Radefeld of St. Louis. The bankruptcy case in Missouri is pending.