PENNSYLVANIA
The Sunday Dispatch
August 24. 2013
By Steve Mocarsky – smocarsky@civitasmedia.com
WELLSBORO — A priest who previously served in Wilkes-Barre has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing an altar boy, the Tioga County District Attorney’s Office confirmed.
The sentencing of the Rev. Thomas Shoback, 61, in Tioga County Court of Common Pleas followed the cleric’s May 2013 conviction on seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and criminal attempt to have involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, as well as endangering the welfare of a child. He was sentenced Monday.
Shoback had been removed from the ministry in November 2011 immediately after the Diocese of Scranton was contacted about the accusation and reported the matter to law enforcement, according to a written statement released by the diocese.
“With the criminal proceedings concluded and in accordance with the Charter for the Protection of Children and Young Adults, Father Shoback is permanently removed from ecclesiastical ministry and his case has been referred to the Holy See,” the statement said.
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