PENNSYLVANIA
Tribune-Review
BY BRAD BUMSTED AND DEBRA ERDLEY | Tuesday, March 15, 2016
Attorney General Kathleen Kane on Tuesday accused three Franciscan Friars officials responsible for personnel assignments of allowing a child predator in the order to sexually abuse about 80 victims and put hundreds of other children in jeopardy
The so-called “ministers provincial” for the order “turned a blind eye to the innocent children they were entrusted to protect,” Kane said at a news conference. The charges stem from a two-year investigation of allegations against Brother Stephen Baker, who killed himself in 2013 by stabbing himself in the heart. His death was ruled a suicide.
A statewide grand jury reviewed evidence obtained through a search warrant executed in June 2015 at the Saint Bernadine Monastery in Hollidaysburg, where Baker lived.
The three men, who now live out of state, were charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of children and one count each of criminal conspiracy.
Kane’s office identified them as Giles A. Schinelli, 73, Robert J. D’Aversa, 69, and Anthony M. Criscitelli, 61. Their preliminary arraignments will be scheduled over the next few days, investigators said.
Kane herself is a criminal defendant facing charges in an unrelated case of perjury, obstruction of justice and official oppression in Montgomery County. She maintains her innocence.
A statewide grand jury report found the three ministers for the “Third Order Regulars” of the Franciscans engaged in efforts to protect the image and reputation of the order at the expense of kids. Leaders of the organization knew of a sexual abuse allegation against Baker as early as 1988, yet he was assigned to Bishop McCort Catholic High School in 1992 without any warning to school officials, the grand jury said.
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