Pa. taking over probe of allegations of abuse by friar

Associated Press

EBENSBURG, Pa.

The state attorney general’s office is taking over the investigation of sex-abuse allegations involving a Franciscan friar who helped as an athletic trainer at a Roman Catholic high school in Johnstown more than a decade ago, the county prosecutor said.

Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan received a letter Friday from Attorney General Kathleen Kane, The (Johnstown) Tribune-Democrat reported.

Several former students at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown have sued school officials and the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, which formerly ran the school, for the purported actions of Brother Stephen Baker. He was an athletic trainer there from 1992 to 2001.

The 62-year-old friar committed suicide Jan. 26 at a monastery in Newry by stabbing himself in the heart. That happened a little more than a week after the Youngstown diocese disclosed financial settlements in reported abuse cases involving 11 students at Warren John F. Kennedy High School, which prompted former students from McCort to begin coming forward with abuse claims.

Callihan asked state prosecutors to review the case to determine whether school or diocesan officials properly reported any information they had about alleged abuse to law-enforcement authorities. A state law enacted the same year Baker came to the school makes it a crime for certain types of officials who supervise children not to report such information.

Diocesan spokesman Tony DeGol said he couldn’t comment on Kane’s letter and wasn’t aware of it.

Matt Beynon, a spokesman for the school’s trustees, issued a statement confirming the board is cooperating with the state investigation.

The school was run by the diocese until 2008 when it became independent and run by the trustees.

“Since the allegations against Brother Baker first surfaced, the Bishop McCort board of trustees has been committed to learning all the facts involved and taking steps necessary to ensure that the school remains a safe learning environment for its students,” the statement said.