PENNSYLVANIA
Troubadour – Saint Francis University
Matt Fraley, Contributing writer • April 24, 2016
Where does SFU stand in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese Sex Abuse Scandal?
Three Franciscan friars have been charged in connection to the child abuse case in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.
On March 15, three Third Order Regular (TOR) friars from the Immaculate Conception Province based in Hollidaysburg were charged with criminal conspiracy and endangering the welfare of children. All three were former provincials for the province.
According to a statement released by the Attorney General’s Katherine Kane’s office, Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli are accused of providing Stephen Baker, a friar in the Immaculate Conception Province, access to children by allowing him to teach at Bishop McCort Catholic High School. These men oversaw Baker and knew that he posed a safety threat to the children, Kane said.
According to WGAL News, Stephen Baker worked from 1992 to 2010 as a religion teacher at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, where he is accused of sexually abusing more than 80 children. In 2013, Baker took his own life.
Schinelli, D’Aversa and Criscitelli could face up to 14 years in prison each, if convicted.
This is just one piece of a growing case involving the whole Altoona-Johnstown diocese. People from around the diocese have been filing reports that priests abused them.
In a New York Times article published on April 4, one woman who attended the Basilica of Saint Michael the Archangel in Loretto claimed that a priest sexually abused her when she was younger.
Were SFU students ever at risk? How has this impacted the university?
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