PENNSYLVANIA
Reuters
HARRISBURG, PA. | BY DAVID DEKOK
Pennsylvania prosecutors will lay out their case on Thursday against three former leaders of a Roman Catholic order accused of endangering hundreds of boys by putting them in contact with a priest they knew to be a sexual predator.
The preliminary hearing for Giles Schinelli, 73, Robert D’Aversa, 69, and Anthony Criscitelli, 61, on felony charges of endangering the welfare of children and conspiracy is expected to last much of the day at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
Each is a former leader of the Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regulars, Province of the Immaculate Conception based in Hollidaysburg. Prosecutors accuse them of enabling the sexual predations of Brother Steven Baker, a member of their order who committed suicide in 2013.
“They acted to protect the institutions they led rather than the children and family they served,” according to the grand jury presentment which recommended charges. “Moreover, they could have prevented additional victims.”
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