2 friars plead to sex abuse cover-up

PENNSYLVANIA
ABC 27

By: Myles Snyder

May 04, 2018

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) – Two Franciscan friars have pleaded no contest to accusations they improperly supervised a suspected sexual predator accused of molesting more than 100 children, most at a Johnstown high school.

Robert D’Aversa, 70, and Anthony Criscitelli, 63, entered the pleas to endangering the welfare of children, a first-degree misdemeanor. Both were sentenced to five years of probation and fined $1,000 and costs of prosecution.

State prosecutors said the men conspired to cover up allegations against Franciscan friar Stephen Baker before and during Baker’s tenure at Johnstown’s Bishop McCort Catholic High School in the 1990s. Baker later took his own life.

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