PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review
By Andrew Conte and Brad Bumsted
Thursday, June 25, 2015
HOLLIDAYSBURG — Agents with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office on Thursday searched the grounds of St. Bernadine Monastery near this Blair County borough, where a Franciscan priest accused of molesting children killed himself two years ago.
The search may be part of a larger investigation of child molestation over nearly three decades involving more than 20 priests in the Altoona-Johnstown Roman Catholic Diocese, sources told the Tribune-Review.
About a half-dozen investigators wearing black T-shirts with the attorney general’s logo appeared Thursday morning with search warrants. The agents, who arrived with a black van and a white box truck marked “Attorney General Special Investigations,” took photos and notes.
The investigation began in early 2014 to look at the priest’s death and may have expanded to examine the diocese, sources said.
Deputy Attorney General Dan J. Dye said at the monastery he could not comment on what the investigators were doing there because their actions have been “sealed.” The monastery sits along a two-lane road among groves of tall pines with several yellow-brick buildings, including one that appears to hold apartments or offices, a three-story house and smaller buildings.
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