Priest Sentenced for Sexually Abusing Boy

WNEP
August 23, 2013

http://wnep.com/2013/08/22/priest-sentenced-for-sexually-abusing-boy/

A judge in Tioga County sentenced Father Thomas Shoback to serve five to ten years of prison time on Monday.

Investigators say Shoback abused an altar boy between 1991 and 1997 while serving at St. Mary’s parish in Blossburg.

Shoback also served as a priest at Sacred Heart of Jesus and Mary in Jermyn, Lackawanna County.

In his 34 years as a priest, Shoback also served as a pastor at St. Joseph, Hudson and Sacred Heart, Plains; Holy Redeemer, Falls-Harding; Our Lady of Lourdes, Montoursville; St. Mary and St. Andrew, Blossburg; as an Assistant Pastor at St. Joseph’s, Hazleton; Nativity BVM, Plymouth; and St. Matthew’s, East Stroudsburg.

He was also part of the faculty at the former Bishop Hoban High School, Wilkes-Barre.

Church officials suspended Shoback from any priest duties back in 2011 after being notified of the child abuse allegations.

Bishop Joseph Bambera of the Diocese Of Scranton released a statement saying he is “Aware of the church’s failures and apologizes for any way in which the church failed victims of sexual abuse. “

The statement also says that Shoback has been removed from the ministry.