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Subscribe to RSSPHILADELPHIA -- A Franciscan friar accused of sexually abusing students at Catholic high schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania killed himself at a western Pennsylvania monastery, police said Saturday.
Brother Stephen Baker, 62, was found dead of self-inflicted wounds at the St. Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg on Saturday morning, Blair Township Police Chief Roger White told The Associated Press. He declined to specify the type of wounds or say whether a note was found.
Baker was named in legal settlements last week involving 11 men who alleged that he sexually abused them at a Catholic high school in northeast Ohio three decades ago. The undisclosed financial settlements announced Jan. 16 involved his contact with students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio from 1986 to 1990.
The Youngstown diocese previously said it was unaware of the allegations until nearly 20 years after the alleged abuse.
"Let us continue to pray for all victims of abuse, for Brother Baker's family and the repose of his soul," Youngstown Bishop George Murray said in a statement Saturday.
After the settlements were announced, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese in central Pennsylvania said it received complaints in 2011 of possible abuse by Baker at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, about 60 miles east of Pittsburgh.
Bishop McCort High School hired an attorney to investigate after several former students alleged they were molested by Baker in the 1990s. Attorney Susan Williams said three former students had talked to her in detail about the alleged abuse.
Baker taught and coached at John F. Kennedy High School in the late 1980's and early 1990's and was at Bishop McCort from 1992-2000.
Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese said in a statement that he was saddened by the news of Baker's death, but declined further comment citing pending legal action involving the diocese.
A message left for Father Patrick Quinn, the head of Baker's order, the Third Order Regular Franciscans, was not immediately returned.
Judy Jones, assistant Midwest director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said the organization still hopes people who know about other abuse allegations against Baker will continue to come forward.
"We feel sad for Br. Baker's family but even sadder for the dozens of boys who Baker assaulted," she said in a statement.
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Mrs Jones
The kids this friar molested, while having had terrible experiences with him today are free to play a round of golf, walk the fields, have a steak, get some therapy if they feel they need it, get on with their lives. This friar? He's dead. Dead.
And good riddance. One less pervert in the world.
It's a good thing!
tom343
Are you kidding me? I personally think he was finally following God's advice.
Yes he is. Is that not a good thing? I think it is. he can't abuse another child now can he?
Truly the church is the whore of babylon.
(Eleven molested boys and one dead monk) "What difference at this point does it make?"
Sa la vie.
"he lies in wait to catch the helpless; he catches the helpless and drags them off in his net."
Better he put a millstone around his neck and be thrown into the deepest part of the sea.
We could have planted the friar in the same place as Bin Laden. The coward took his own life and embraces eternal hellfire forever. What are Corporate Catholics going to do about this abuse?
Where is rightousness and goodness within the walls of the Catholic Church today?
Where is rightousness and goodness anywhere in this world today? Period. All i see hear and read is bad news. It's painful.
What we have here is a failure to excommunicate..
Now that's damn funny! Thanks!
It's very hard to be a positive force on this planet, will all that goes on. Religion is really just a method of control. As we have seen all over the world, humans are inherently selfish, greedy, ruthless and power hungry and organized religion has been instituted as a way to control those impulses. I wish the Catholic Church would expose all the creeps and send them to jail. (but if they did that i guess there might not be too many of them left). Sad.
I think it's good news, he saved the tax payers a bunch of $$.
If you are an atheist, skip this post. If not, consider this: has it ever occurred to you that Catholic priests might just be the perfect targets for the devil? By luring a few priests into committing evil deeds, Satan has managed to turn a huge number of people away from the church even though the VAST MAJORITY of priests do NOT do these things, the VAST MAJORITY of Catholic organizations are NOT involved, and the VAST MAJORITY of practicing catholics ABHOR these things. It is NOT a monumental conspiracy of evil, but if you think it is and spread that word, you are doing the work of the devil by turning them away from the original and largest (by a huge margin) Christian church. Attack the acts if you must, but do not attack the institution when the facts don't justify it. As other have stated, Rabbies and Protestant Ministers are equally guilty, but get little press because people in the US love to pile onto the Catholic-bashing bandwagon
Obviously, trying2, I am both an atheist and did not skip your post. Catholics are the poster children for being persecuted by everyone, everywhere. Poor wittle catholics. It is sad that you and your fellow mackeral snappers are so put upon. Everyone is out to get the poor, poor catholic church.
I not only attack the acts, but the church leaders who hush it up and the catholic congregations that fund it all. Every time you put money in the collection plate you are helping to pay to cover up what was done and to pay for the defense of the pervs who did it.
If the congregations would stop giving support and money to a pope that covers up for these sickos it would soon come to a halt. So I will keep bashing the catholics as long as you keep allowing your priests to molest children. By the way, the devil made them do it is no defense.
You obviously don't know that the Catholic Church contributes more money to the poor and needy than any other organization on the face of the planet--that's where MOST of the money goes. Also, I never said that "the devil made him do it" is a defense. Catholic priests are no less (and no more) guilty than all the other people who committ the exact same acts in every other organized enterprise on Earth. I just said that all clergy have difficult challenges--a little compassion for ALL of them might be in order.
I will save my compassion for the victims, whose lives are trashed by these sickos. What does the fact that the catholics give money to the poor have to do with anything? Have you seen the vatican? Have you seen the accounting for the huge, vast amount of treasure, property and cash the catholic church has? Have you seen the vestments worn by the "princes" of the church? It is one of the largest corporations in the world, and it pays no taxes. I do know the catholics give money to charity, so do I, so do lots of people and organizations. That does not excuse covering up crimes.
You can't fix pedophiles, but your beloved church is sweeping their deeds under the rug and paying for their defense. That is completely beyond the pale and I would love to see the catholic churches holdings liquidated and spread among the poor.
Of course we should have compassion for the victims, and I'm not trying to excuse the activities of a FEW wayward Catholics, whether they are laymen, clergy, or part of the Vatican. The point is, the church does not have an official policy of molesting people and covering its tracks--no more so than any other organized enterprise does. Also, it is probably the largest organization on the planet by far, so yes, it has some infrastructure. So does Ford. so does the US government. So do you, I'll wager. As for other religions, have you seen the Crystal Cathedral? the Mormon temple in Salt Lake? The Catholic Church is not unique, yet is singled out for venom and vitriole on a daily basis by the media and by people like you who want to pile on without checking the facts. If you want to point your finger at the church, fine, but make sure you treat every other organization on Earth with the same critical eye. I know you don't think so, but in the big picture, taken as a whole, with a few notable exceptions, the members of the Catholic Church are the "good guys".
The fact that other churches are rich beyond belief is directly on point. All religions are outmoded and need to be disbanded.
Yes, Ford has infrastructure, so do I, etc. The difference is that Ford and I pay taxes. All religions should be taxed, they have had a free ride for far too long.
Religionists try to influence government every day, which is simply wrong. Stay out of government, out of my life and out of my bedroom. Leave women's health decisions to women.
I know many fine religionists, including catholics, but I do not excuse them for allowing the cover up of pedophilia. If the rank and file catholics would stand up to the church leaders, that part, at least, would stop. Throw the peddies to the wolves, or be implicated right along with them.
If there is one thing I really hate about Christianity is the convenience of the God/Devil paradigm. If something good happens it's God's handywork, if something bad happens it's the devil's handywork. How convenient for everyone, nobody has to take responsibility for their own handiwork.
I am not an atheist. I do believe in God. I am not Catholic either but the truth of the matter is that the priests that have done and continue to be sheltered by "The Church" are more in number than any where else. For years" The Church" hid these molesters and transferred them all over the World where local law enforcement could not get to them. Yes there are molesters like Sandusky out there in Scout Troops and schools. But in "The Church" they are there more in number than any other profession. It was not until the Boston Arch Diocese was sued that Rome started to turn these animals over to the law. It took the threat of losing money for Rome to do something. Trying to serve I am sure you are a good person but the reality is that the Catholic Church has had this problem for longer than you or I have been alive. They will continue to unless they ferret out the ones doing these things. The problem is not many men want to be in the priesthood. I can't blame them either.
One less Catholic pervert. Who cares? He did the world a favor.
Also, if you profess to be a Christian of any denomination, try practicing your faith. Hate the sin, but not the person. Try praying for priests who are struggling against evil instead of clubbing them over the head. Isn't that what Jesus would want?
Why don't you stick that preachy $hit up your ass?
I'm obviously not talking to you, so ease up.
Hate the sin, not the sinner is just pathetic Christian rhetoric to make it sound like you are better than the non-Christians.
Trying to Serve, I am not Jesus and none of us are. My point which you glossed over is that "The Church" hid these animals for years. Man is given free will. They did the crime and need to do the time. Another thing, Constantine gave us the Bible after making his mind up on which ones he wanted in there. There are another several books written at the same time as John, Luke, Mark and Mathew. They did not suit his taste. Oh and yes the TV preachers make me ill. They do prey on their flock and shear them often but most don't rape small children. And yes there are molesters in the other faiths. Just face the facts that there are a higher number of pedophiles in the Catholic Church than any other place.
This is a big reason so many have lost their faith in our country and gives these liberals more excuses to attack Christianity! The catholic church is the main reason! These people try to set their own rules instead of following the bible.....as a Christian, this just makes me sick!!
Catholics gave you guys the bible, and we do read and follow it. You are making sweeping generalizations without reason. What if I told you that Protestants are all hypocritical, money grubbing hucksters? You'd probably be offended, as well you should. A few TV preachers most definitely are, but the vast majority of Protestants, are decent, God-fearing folk. As a Catholic, (and former Protestant) I know this to be true. Get a copy of the Cattholic Catechism someday and read it--you'll probably be amazed about how little you really know about us.
Also Jamie, Catholics all follow the same bible, exactly as it was first handed down through tradition and recorded in written form, the exact same way, wherever we are in the world. By contrast, Martin Luther cherry picked the parts of the bible he agreed with and chucked the rest. After that, as we all know, Protestantism splintered into literally hundreds of denominations, each putting their own unique spin on the meaning of the words. You pride yourselves on following the bible above all else, (even though the bible itself was handed down through tradition before it was written) but you have hundreds of different ideas of what that really means.
@ Trying2serve: can you enlighten us as to which parts of the Bible Martin Luther "chucked?" And, the "Catholic" church did not give Christianity the Bible. The Canon was the work of many respected church leaders, some whom lived before there was a "Catholic" church.
trying2serve,
Now you have really pissed me off!!!! Claiming the Catholic church follows the Bible 'exactly as it was first handed down through tradition and recorded in written form, the exact same way, wherever we are in the world.' WRONG!!!!!
The Bible has been revised so many times with most of the major revisions done by Pope's during Catholicism's early years. I could tell you of some significant changes made since I was 26 (30 yrs ago). So don't say otherwise, the church, Catholic or otherwise has revised the Bible to fit it's needs more times than scholars can count!
The bible is just another book of fairy tales, like the Brothers Grimm. Stories to scare children and weak minded adults. Makes no difference which flavor of buybull you read, they are all based on words written by men in order to control other men. They are no more true than any other folk tales, just because you believe in them, even strongly believe, does not make them factual.
We need to abandon the foolishness of religion and embrace rational thought and logic. Get into the 21st century and put away the 12th century thought. Time to grow up.
Those residing in the United States of America have the freedom to believe in and practice a religion of their choosing, or to not believe at all. Why are you so afraid of those who choose to believe? Does it bother you that much? Bigotry covers a lot of territory. Foolishness is no discrimnator of persons. Such a childish reaction to those you don't like. "Time to grow up" goes both ways.
A long time ago Priests could marry. Since women generally live longer than men, the church was worried it would lose property to the widows of these Priests. It was a simple case of economics. Of course the church teaches that it made this move so that Priests could devote ALL their time to their parish's. And there is a lot of truth to that.
Now the church pays out ???$ to the victims of the many sexual predators who are Priests. Got to wonder if it would make more economic sense to let Priests marry again. Especially when you consider all the folks like me who no longer donate to a church that has it's stubborn head up it's butt.
Marriage has nothing to do with whether pedophiles rape children. In fact, something like 90% of pedophiles are married, like Jerry Sandusky.
Is the Catholic church becoming a target of those who see an easy gravy train of $$$$? Not every accusation made against priests is truthful. This has been documented by comparing the accused priest's parish assignments to the accounts of some accusers claiming abuse by a priest and then finding the priest was hundreds of miles away at the time the accuser claims the abuse. We as humans have no right to judge anyone. Leave the judging to the legal system. Facts will become clear. We readers react with emotion.
BW I believe you are right when you say not all accusations are truthful. I also believe that only a very small fraction of victims ever come forward. It is too embarrassing to be a known victim for many people for any amount of money.
The legal system is composed of humans. So if we humans have no right to judge then how will the legal system work its magic. Your post makes no sense.
I cannot believe that a member of the Catholic clergy would do such things.
In Nebraska was a preacher whose wife died of gunshot that was originally called a suicide. When the case was reopened for investigation, because the gunshot wounds were not consistent with a suicide, the preacher killed himself. Some thought he shot his wife and said she committed suicide.
Another case in Nebraska is a pastor convicted of bludgeoning his wife in 2008 being investigated on the suspicious death of his first wife.
Another preacher in Nebraska had child pornography on a church computer which someone saw. Suddenly the computer disappears and the preacher gets reassigned. However the legal process brought him back into Nebraska for trial. I don't know what became of the missing computer (church property).
Churches seem to protect these monstrous abusers, sometimes at the extent of throwing the victims under the bus.
Constantine put the Bible together not Martin Luther. Constantine was the one that "Chucked" all of the other books of the Apostles.
I am concerned with his victims potentially committing suicide, not Friar Tuck offing himself. How many kids will NOT be molested because he did us this favor? And as another poster pointed out, his Catholic faith must have been really strong to choose to commit suicide. Since the story declines to mention what type of self-inflicted wounds he had, we can only hope he died castrating himself.
Perhaps callous, but honestly I wish more heinous criminals who know they will be going to jail would simply kill themselves. It would save themselves and everyone else a lot of pain.