PENNSYLVANIA
WJAC
BY MARIA MILLER TUESDAY, MARCH 1ST 2016
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — A new grand jury report claims two Roman Catholic bishops in a central Pennsylvania diocese helped cover up the sexual abuse of hundreds of children by over 50 priests or religious leaders over a 40-year period.
The 147-page report on sexual abuse in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese was made public Tuesday by Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane.
Kane says none of the alleged criminal acts can be prosecuted because some abusers have died, statutes of limitations have run their course and victims are too traumatized to testify.
The investigation unveiled Tuesday started in Cambria County allegations of sexual abuse stemming from a Catholic high school in Johnstown.
Kane said the Cambria County district attorney was concerned that officials from that school, Bishop McCort Catholic High School, as well as the Johnstown Police Department and the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown failed to report child abuse at the hands of Brother Stephen Baker, a former coach and athletic trainer accused of molesting students in the ’90s.
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