PENNSYLVANIA
The Guardian (UK)
Joanna Walters
@Joannawalters13
Saturday 19 March 2016
Bringing criminal charges against church leaders for covering up abuse is almost unprecedented in the US despite the serial scandals that have engulfed the church since widespread abuse and concealment of the crimes began being exposed by the media in Boston in 2002.
But on Friday, three Catholic friars appeared in district court in Hollidaysburg, near Altoona, accused of allowing a known predator in their midst to have access to children.
Friars Robert D’Aversa, 69, Anthony Criscitelli, 62, and Giles Schinelli, 73, were arraigned in court on child endangerment and conspiracy charges, felonies that carry a maximum sentence of seven years in prison.
“My son is dead because of your poor decision-making,” Barbara Aponte of Poland, Ohio, shouted as the three men, wearing traditional clerical collars and black outfits, entered court.
The woman’s son, Luke Bradescu, had been abused while the predator previously worked at the high school he attended in Ohio. Bradescu killed himself in 2003 at the age of 26.
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