The key facts
- Brother Titus Kiet, 78, is accused of sexual assault during a walk in 2016 and of harassing an abbey employee; he denies all allegations
- Dyfed-Powys Police investigated the reports but took no further action; in 2024 Kiet was required to leave the island
- The island has previously been linked to scandals: in 2017 six women settled a lawsuit over child abuse by the monk Thaddeus Kotik
Allegations against the monk
Natalie Roberts, a resident of Wales, has spoken publicly for the first time about the alleged sexual assault by a monk from Caldey Island off the coast of Pembrokeshire. According to the BBC podcast Dark Island, Brother Titus Kiet, 78, also handed out photographs of himself naked to women, often accompanied by verses, and is accused of sexually harassing a former employee of the island.
The complainant's account
Roberts, who had regularly visited the island since the early 2000s with her two sons, said that in 2016, during a dangerous crossing over slippery rocks to the neighbouring island of St Margaret's, Kiet, walking behind her, repeatedly committed sexual acts through clothing. She said she stayed silent, fearing she would be banned from visiting the island, and that what happened undermined her faith in Catholicism.
Kiet's response
Kiet rejected all the allegations, saying that 'a woman who feels rejected can become very spiteful' and that the photographs were not sexual, but that he would reflect on his behaviour. He claimed that Roberts 'spitefully turned against him' after he rejected her attempts to seduce him, and that the employee made up the allegations for money from the monastery. In a statement he quoted the Bible: 'To the pure all things are pure' (Epistle to Titus 1:15).
Allegations from the employee
According to reports, Kiet harassed an abbey employee, touching her breasts and buttocks, made comments about her body, and showed nude photographs of himself and women. Allegedly, when confronted, he stated that as a citizen of the Netherlands he was not subject to the laws of the United Kingdom, that on a private island he could do whatever he wanted, called the woman 'too sensitive' and threatened her with dismissal if she complained.
The abbey's and police's response
The abbot of the abbey, Father Jan Rossey, said that in 2024 Kiet was 'required to leave' the island and is banned from returning; the monk moved to another monastery. Dyfed-Powys Police investigated the reports but took no further action; according to the force, all lines of inquiry have been exhausted and there are no current investigations.
The island's history with past scandals
Caldey, owned by the Cistercian order since 1929 and receiving about 50,000 tourists a year, was previously known as 'crime-free'. In 2017, six women settled a civil lawsuit against the abbey over sexual abuse they suffered in childhood at the hands of the monk Thaddeus Kotik; the former abbot Robert O'Brian knew about the abuse but did not report it to the police. An independent review in 2024 found that victims had been treated 'heartlessly, hostilely and cruelly', and that impunity allowed Kotik to abuse children for four decades. Former head of the police's criminal justice department Steve Wilkins called for a new investigation, including the question of how three more offenders — Paul Ashton, John Cronin and John Shannon — ended up on the island. Rossey apologised and announced new safeguarding measures: a committee involving the police, the council and a survivor, background checks and mandatory interviews for those living and working on the island.
Image source, Nigel Iskander Brother Titus denies sexually assaulting a visitor, who says he also gave her naked photos of himself
Image source, Titus Keet Brother Titus Keet would take naked photos of himself at different places around Caldey Island
Image source, Titus Keet Brother Titus Keet would write letters or poems to accompany his naked photographs
Caldey Abbey has been home to Cistercian monks since a group moved from Scourmont Abbey in Belgium in 1929
