PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Democrat
Kathy Mellott
kmellott@tribdem.com
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Friday’s announcement by the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown that it is suspending settlement talks with alleged victims of the late Brother Stephen Baker has generated a firestorm of controversy, with one victims’ advocate calling the news outrageous.
Robert Hoatson, founder and president of Road to Recovery Inc., protested outside diocesan headquarters in Hollidaysburg.
Late Friday afternoon, Tony DeGol, the diocese secretary of communications, sent an emailed statement that the diocese was temporarily suspending negotiations to reach settlements with the mostly men who claim they were sexually molested by Baker, a Franciscan friar.
Baker taught at Bishop McCort from 1992 to about 2001, however he was a frequent visitor for the school until about 2005 or 2006, according to sources who worked there.
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