PA--Criminal hearing for Franciscan Friars in sex abuse cover-up case set for Wednesday
National victims support group will be available to comment, answer questions
What:
Clergy sex abuse survivors and their supporters will attend a criminal hearing for three Franciscan Friars charged with failing to properly supervise a Johnstown-area sexual predator cleric, accused of abuse by more than 90 children.
Afterward, they will comment on the outcome of the hearing and answer questions from the media.
When:
Wednesday, June 14, 2017
The hearing begins at 8:30 am
Where:
At the Blair County Courthouse
423 Allegheny St in Hollidaysburg, PA
Who:
Two or three members of a national victims’ support group called SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, SNAPNetwork.org) and their supporters, including John Nesbella, the SNAP leader for the Altoona-Johnstown area.
Why:
Franciscan Friars Giles Schinelli, Robert D'Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli are charged with criminal child endangerment and conspiracy for failing to properly supervise Brother Stephen Baker, a suspected sexual predator whose assignments put him in a position to molest children.
Baker killed himself in 2013, shortly after the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstwon settled claims with 11 of his alleged victims.
https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2016-04-27/testimony-resumes-in-friars-child-endangerment-hearing
Criminal charges stemmed from an FBI investigation of the civil lawsuits against Baker and a 2016 grand jury report that found that the three defendants should have done more to protect children.
Baker was a religion teacher and athletic trainer at Johnstown's Bishop McCort High School in the 1990s.
http://www.altoonamirror.com/news/local-news/2017/04/hearing-for-friars-delayed-until-june/
Contact:
Judy Jones ( 636-433-2511, [email protected]), JohnNesbella (814 243-5213, [email protected]),
Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003, [email protected])