PENNSYLVANIA
ABC News
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — Apr 14, 2016
A former student at a Pennsylvania high school told a judge Thursday that a Franciscan brother who worked as a teacher and athletic trainer molested him and other student-athletes during rubdowns that were meant to stretch out their muscles.
The testimony came at a preliminary hearing for three friars who are charged with endangering Brother Stephen Baker’s students by assigning him to jobs where he had contact with children. Baker, who authorities believe molested more than 100 children, killed himself in 2013.
The hearing will determine whether Robert D’Aversa, Anthony Criscitelli and Giles Schinelli should stand trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.
The former student, who is now 30, said Baker was a family friend who molested him on the training table at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown and fondled him on car trips to other states and when he visited a monastery in Pennsylvania.
The three friars successively headed a Franciscan order in Pennsylvania from 1986 to 2010. They assigned and supervised the order’s members, including Baker.
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