Woman now claiming Pa. friar abused her, too

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — A central Pennsylvania attorney says a woman claims to be among more than 50 former students who intend to sue church and school officials they believe are responsible for their alleged molestation by a Franciscan friar who committed suicide.

Altoona attorney Richard Serbin says his latest client is the first woman to claim abuse by Brother Stephen Baker when he served as an athletic trainer or was otherwise in or around Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown from 1992 to 2001.

Baker committed suicide Jan. 26 at a monastery in Newry more than a week after the Youngstown, Ohio, diocese disclosed financial settlements involving 11 students who claimed Baker abused them at a northeastern Ohio school in the late 1980s.

Dozens of former students in Pennsylvania, Ohio and Michigan have since come forward with abuse claims.