Leaders were aware of allegations against friar, witness testifies

Associated Press

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa.

Records from a Franciscan religious order show three former leaders knew a friar had been accused of child sex abuse before he was allowed to work at a high school and other jobs where he was later accused of molesting more than 100 children, an investigator testified Thursday.

Jessica Eger, a special agent with the state’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation, said documents showed Giles Schinelli, Robert D’Aversa and Anthony Criscitelli were aware of allegations dating to 1977 against Brother Stephen Baker, who killed himself in 2013.

Baker stabbed himself in the heart in January 2013, nine days after a Roman Catholic Diocese settled claims by former high-school students in Warren that they had been abused in the late 1980s.

“He molested children because these men put him in a position to molest them,” Deputy Attorney General Daniel Dye told the judge while arguing with defense attorneys during the testimony.

The hearing, which will resume April 27, will determine whether the three former Franciscan leaders stand trial on child endangerment and conspiracy charges.

When they were charged last month, Schinelli was a pastoral administrator of a Catholic retreat in Winter Park, Fla.; D’Aversa was a pastor in Mount Dora, Fla.; and Criscitelli was a pastor in Minneapolis. They have since been removed from their duties.

During questioning Thursday, attorneys for the three men sought to show that their clients did the best they could to investigate what little they contend they knew of past allegations against Baker, and then to supervise him accordingly.