Sex abuse by Orchard Lake friar first reported in 1985, dad of alleged victim says

MICHIGAN
Detroit Free Press

[with video]

By Patricia Montemurri
Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

A longtime Michigan resident said Tuesday that he confronted an official at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s high school in 1985 about his son’s alleged sexual abuse by Brother Stephen Baker, a Franciscan friar who killed himself in January after abuse incidents became public at Ohio and Pennsylvania schools.

In March 1985, the father said he confronted Baker and a St. Mary’s administrator. The father said he demanded that Baker be terminated immediately.

“You are a sick man, and this is your last day at the school,” the man said he told Baker. “I’ll see to it.”

The father spoke at a Romulus news conference Tuesday arranged by a victims advocacy group, Road to Recovery of New Jersey, and attorney Mitchell Garabedian.

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