OHIO
Fox Youngstown
A former Warren John F. Kennedy High School religion teacher, sports trainer and baseball coach used his authority positions to tell students they needed massages to avoid injury, then sexually molested them, one as many as 25 times during the late 1980s, a source familiar with the settlements reached in the cases said.
Boston attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Wednesday he negotiated settlements for 11 men who attended JFK High from 1986-1990 that claimed Brother Stephen P. Baker, a baseball coach, religion teacher and athletic trainer during his tenure at JFK, molested.
Garabedian said some of the men, who were between 14-18 when they were molested, are now all between 36 and 40 years old and live in places ranging from Massachusetts to Nevada. Garabedian said some went on to become successful businessmen.
Garabedian said a 12th man has since contacted him claiming he was also abused by Baker.
Brother Baker, reached at about 9:45 a.m. Wednesday in his room at St. Bernadine’s monastery in Newry, Pa., about seven miles south of Altoona, said he was shocked when alerted of the accusations in a brief phone interview with the newsroom. The Diocese of Youngstown said on Wednesday Baker was living there under strict supervision and is not teaching or involved in any public ministry.
“I’m flabbergasted,” Brother Baker said. “I’ll have to ask my superiors if I can say anything.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.