PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat
By DAVE SUTOR dsutor@tribdem.com | Posted: Tuesday, October 21, 2014 4:36 pm
Eighty-eight former Bishop McCort High School students who Brother Stephen Baker sexually abused will receive a combined $8 million in compensation.
A settlement, involving four parties – the victims, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, Province of the Immaculate Conception of the Third Order Regular Franciscans and Bishop McCort Catholic High School, was announced on Tuesday.
Baker, whose January 2013 death has been ruled a suicide, abused the children when he served as an athletic trainer at the Johnstown school from 1992 through 2001.
“The victims of Brother Stephen Baker should be proud of themselves for having the strength to step up and fight such devastating evil,” said Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston-based attorney for almost three dozen of the accusers.
Richard Serbin, an Altoona lawyer who represents some of the other molestation victims, added: “No amount of money eliminates the emotional and physical pain of having been sexually molested by someone you trust and respect. By coming forward, these brave young people took action in an effort to prevent other children from being sexually abused.
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