PENNSYLVANIA
Church Militant
by Joseph Pelletier • ChurchMilitant.com • April 15, 2016
All three friars accused of aiding and abetting have pleaded not guilty to charges
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (ChurchMilitant.com) – A hearing is beginning in the case of three Franciscan friars who purportedly allowed a known homosexual abuser to have access to minors.
Five witnesses testified Thursday in the case against Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli, the three former provincial ministers of Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regulars, Province of the Immaculate Conception in western Pennsylvania. The trio are charged with permitting Br. Stephen Baker to work with children despite known allegations of abuse, resulting in the molestation of potentially over 100 minors, the vast majority being post-pubescent males.
The first testimony came from Jessica Eger, a special agent with the Pennsylvania Bureau of Criminal Investigation, who asserted that all three friars knew of the allegations against Baker as early as 1977. According to Eger, Giles Schinelli, the first of the three to head the province, assigned the brother to Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown in 1992 in spite of accusations of abuse and a private admission from Schinelli himself that Baker should not have “one-on-one” contact with children.
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