PENNSYLVANIA
PennLive
May 4, 2018
By Matt Miller mmiller@pennlive.com
Two former Franciscan friars from Altoona each have been sentenced to 5 years of probation after pleading no contest to charges that they shielded a member of their order who sexually abused more than 100 children.
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said Friday that Robert D’Aversa, 70, and Anthony Criscitelli, 63, entered their pleas to charges of endangering the welfare of children before being sentenced by Blair County Judge Judge Jolene G. Kopriva. The two also were fined $1,000 each.
The AG’s office arrested D’Aversa and Criscitelli two years ago. Charges against a third defendant, former Friar Giles Schinelli, were dismissed on statute of limitations grounds.
All three men were charged with failing to properly supervise Brother Stephen Baker, who was accused of molesting children while working at a Johnstown Catholic high school in the 1990s. Baker later committed suicide.
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