PENNSYLVANIA
New York Times
By DAVE PHILIPPSMARCH 15, 2016
Three former leaders of a Franciscan religious order were charged with felonies in Pennsylvania on Tuesday for allowing a friar, who was a known sexual predator, to work in a job that enabled him to molest scores of children.
Tuesday’s complaint was the first time members of a Roman Catholic religious order have been charged with abetting an abuser. The church has faced thousands of lawsuits over sexual abuse by members of the clergy in the past decade, but criminal prosecutions of the supervisors accused of covering up for abusers have been rare.
The complaint, filed by the state’s attorney general, Kathleen Kane, charged three leaders of the Franciscan Friars, Third Order Regulars — Giles A. Schinelli, 73; Robert J. D’Aversa, 69; and Anthony M. Criscitelli, 61 — with conspiracy to endanger children. The three are accused of knowing about accusations of abuse against the friar, Brother Stephen Baker, but of not reporting him to the police or removing him from positions where he had access to children, including one he held for nearly a decade as an athletic trainer at a local school where he regularly told students to undress for massages.
“They were more concerned with protecting the image of the order and more concerned with being in touch with lawyers than with the flock that they served,” Ms. Kane said at a news conference Tuesday.
Lawyers and victims groups said the prosecutions were a stark warning to Roman Catholic organizations across the country that covering up abuse could lead to jail time.
“This is the missing piece,” said David Clohessy, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “For years, there have been pledges of reform, but we still see the same deceitful practices because those who stay silent or lie to cover up have not been held accountable.”
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