( CNN ) -- Vatican officials failed to take action against a priest accused of sexually abusing two teenage girls in Minnesota despite repeated warnings from a local bishop starting in 2005 , attorneys for one of the alleged victims said Monday . The Vatican 's failure occurred despite the establishment of safeguards established four years earlier to deal with the growing abuse scandal inside the Catholic Church , they said . The priest -- Father Joseph Pavanivel Jeyapaul of Ootacamund , India -- served in a diocese in Crookston , Minnesota , for a little more than a year in 2004 and 2005 , according to church documents unearthed in a lawsuit related to the case . Complaint letters from Crookston Bishop Victor Balke to Rome were acknowledged by Vatican officials , but no disciplinary action was taken , the documents show . Jeyapaul is now the head of a church education commission in Ootacamund , giving him continued access to children , lawyers said . `` This is systematic . All roads ... lead to Rome and the top officials there , '' said Jeff Anderson , a St. Paul , Minnesota , attorney representing the alleged victim . `` As horrific as the rape of children by Jeyapaul is ... the coverup of it is every bit as horrific and criminal . '' Father Louis Rag , bishop secretary of the Ootacamund Diocese , confirmed Monday that Jeyapaul is still in Ootacamund . He refused to comment further , except to note that he had heard about the charges against Jeyapaul through media reports . Anderson revealed the church documents at a news conference in St. Paul . The county attorney 's office for Roseau County , Minnesota , is trying to extradite Jeyapaul from India . The Crookston Diocese first received reports of `` inappropriate behavior '' on the part of Jeyapaul in September 2005 , according to a letter Balke sent four months later to Cardinal William Levada , head of the Vatican 's Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith , a body established to deal with cases of alleged abuse . Pope Benedict XVI headed the congregation before being chosen to lead the Roman Catholic Church . Balke wrote that according to an internal investigation , Jeyapaul took a teenage girl to his rectory in the summer of 2005 , where `` he proceeded to kiss her repeatedly , pulling her on top of him and at one point touching her beneath her clothing . '' Balke also said in the letter that Jeyapaul had misappropriated `` a substantial amount of money belonging to the parish and also attempted to give a diocesan vehicle to a third party as payment for an outstanding debt . '' The bishop went on to warn the Vatican that it is `` impossible to say that Father Jeyapaul does not at present pose a risk to minors . '' `` I can not in good conscience allow this matter to be passed over '' simply because Jeyapaul has now returned to India , Balke said . `` In my mind , that would be a shameful act of betrayal towards the women and girls in India to whom Fr . Jeyapaul could at present pose a serious risk . '' A representative for Levada responded to Balke 's letter in May 2006 , acknowledging his complaint and writing that the Vatican had requested to church officials in India that `` Father Jeyapaul 's priestly life be monitored so that he does not constitute a risk to minors and does not create a scandal among the faithful . '' Six months later , Balke relayed a new series of allegations about Jeyapaul to Levada . Balke wrote that he had received reports `` of similar behavior having taken place between Fr . Jeyapaul and a second girl . '' In both instances , Balke wrote , Jeyapaul had been counseling the girls about their religious lives . Church officials once again acknowledged Balke 's letter but took no disciplinary or other action against Jeyapaul , the documents show . Anderson accused Vatican officials Monday of being more concerned with preserving their own reputations than with protecting children . `` We are sad because so many kids have been wounded and hurt because Catholic officials -- top Catholic officials from the Vatican on down ... do n't get it and remain in denial , '' he said . `` They have a problem . ... They fail to do what is necessary to protect children across the globe . '' CNN 's Alan Silverleib and Sumnima Udas contributed to this report .
Priest accused of beating two teenage girls , demanding money . Bishop sent letters to Rome , but no disciplinary action was taken . Bishop requested that ` ` priestly life '' be abandoned .