PENNSYLVANIA
WTAE
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa —Three Franciscan friars must stand trial on charges linked to their role in supervising a suspected sexual predator accused of molesting more than 100 children, a judge ruled Wednesday.
The decision comes after additional testimony in their preliminary hearing on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.
Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli assigned or supervised Brother Stephen Baker when he served at Bishop McCort Catholic High School in Johnstown in the 1990s.
The defense had argued that it’s too late to file charges and that their clients did their best to supervise Baker given what they knew.
More than 90 students have settled lawsuits for more than $8 million claiming Baker molested them, mostly while acting as a sports trainer. Baker fatally stabbed himself in the heart days after a diocese settled claims by former high school students in Warren, Ohio, that they had been abused in the late 1980s.
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