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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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@ Mike P... So how many wars do you know of that were started in the name of aethism? How many people do you know of that were killed or murdered by some aethiest zealot?
True we do live in a country where we can choose to believe, or not believe, in whatever we want. The problem starts with the evangelicals calling everyone wrong, damned or whatever for not believing. The evangelicals want to make everyone live by there beliefs or the "world is going to hell". I am fine with you believing anything you want... Just please keep it to yourself. Your words mean little anyway when you reference an organization that points fingers at others when they themselves are some of the worst offenders.
If people quit bringing their kids to churches, I think we would see the number of abuses plummet. Another effect from keep kids out of church would be fewer of them growing up believing religious nonsense and staying out of churches as adults. This would lead to fewer priests; a smaller pool of priests would also have a smaller population of child molesters when compared to the huge one now.
Some consider religious indoctrination of children to be a form of child abuse. I'm not sure if I'd go that far, but it certainly is irresponsible to present your foolish superstitions as fact to impressionable children.
Screw the Castholic Church, as a matter of fact, screw all organized religion. Assuming Jesus really existed, I thought he was supposed to have been a man of peace and of simple means. What would he think of the big business that religion has become, and the atrocities that have been commited and ignored by the "Church over the centuries. Probably wouldn't be too excited.
Oh for cripes sake all of these so called religions and churchs are now just a business - I do believe Jesus or a Jesus figure existed as he appears in all doctrines - and in all of these doctrines the message is the same - love one another - and do good
Simple - yes - but really profound
Never meant to build edifices - nor exploit people with promises of a so called heaven, but just to guide you to a good life
Ya gotta love organized religion.
Tax churches, mosques, and synagogues now!
Wish people like Casey Anthony, took the HINT!
All organized religions should be banned. If you feel the need to pray to an invisible man then do it in your home. It is amazing to me how gullible large amounts of people are. How many more of your kids have to be sacrificed to these religions before you wake up and start questioning them? Are you afraid? Some of our biggest sexual predators come from your churches. There's a reason why people who belong to religions are referred to as followers because your easily led. So many can be led by so few, like sheep. Wake up people and think outside the box.
The fact is it isn't organized religion, Christianity, Catholicism, etc. that is the culprit, it is the criminals, the sociopaths, the con artists, the pretenders who are largely DRAWN to the churches where they will find their prey of trusting and sometimes gullable people who let them in, then once they're in, they do their dirty deeds, then the CHURCH full of decent people get the bad reputation....when all along it wasn't the crime of a true Christian but a pretender, a liar, an imposter. Obviously the pedophile is not a true Christian or man of any Godly faith. The vast majority of people who are involved in organized religion are decent, productive people in society with clean intentions. Put the blame where it belongs - with the souless imposters, not the said faith itself.
The devil called him home, I hope he burns forever!!
Every one gets going on kids killing kids at schools ok thats bad I agree. However when a priest molester use's 20-30 kids which ruins them for the rest of their lives, why is it that no one gets in a big uproar about it? Is it because their priest's, and they figure the church will punish them? Well actually these child molester's get off scott free. The church send's them to another location some times in another country and thats that!. I believe all child molester's should be killed, which is what would happen if they ever got sent to federal prison.
Ex Catholic here. It's Sunday...don't forget to put an extra buck in the basket at church today to pay for the defense of the rest of the Pervs and Pope and Bishops covering this all up. Why there is even one catholic remaining to support this is beyond me - just as sick and guilty as the priests and nuns. Good - one less perv in the world.
well thats one less sicko homosexual child molester on the planet.
No teveryone in the Catholic is implicated, but to fix this will require an effort like fixing a temite infected house.
Dig until sound wood is found! No matter how high it goes!
And how do these guys keep track of how many kids they abuse?
They join a Frequent Friar Club!
Why will MSN let me comment on sexually deviant people, but not on North Korea's pending nuclear tests? Unless a priest is going to blow up and kill thousands of people.
MSN is a microsoft entity, and NBC is a "news" entity owned I believe by ComCast--although they are affiliated, but two separate entities.
I am Catholic,,And so proud to be one!! May the good lord give mercy to all.....People are leaving the faith or bashing it...Just because your team are down on points ,,,you do not quit,,,You pray harder,,Its a tuff world right now ,,look around.
Proud of what, pray tell? Church history pretty nasty, today's times the continued attempts at Social Engineering and politicking is rather noisome. I am sure if The Christ could what his "Church" has morphed into would be appalled. Now to be Proud of the Good Sisters and their works is worthwhile, they walk the walk and the talk etc.
Sometimes badly termite damaged homes aren't worth saving, especially if they don't serve any useful purpose.
Do you think I can sue the church for all the dimes my parents made me put in the basket through 12 years of catholic schooling? Little did I know then that they would be used to help men and women abuse my fellow students and friends. I am ashamed I was so nieve and gullable.
Obviously
a troubled and conflicted soul that had demons in his mind, (not the literal
sort). At peril of sounding calloused, this may have been for the best. He will
no longer suffer for his sins and victims don't need to worry that paths will
ever cross.
Innocence Lost
Written to honor and give a voice to foreign exchange students in the
news,
(March, 2012), who have been abused by perverts posing as
"sponsors", but
applies in many other situations as well.
While the lines about clean
records and applications aren't necessarily true as
proper checks simply
weren't always done, the victims were assured that they
would be going to a
healthy environment which had been verified and deemed as
such. There were
actually multiple occasions where a young person was being
sent to live with
a convicted murderer.
I trusted you
because they said I should.
Your record was clear,
application clean.
It said you encouraged my best,
or so it would
seem.
Leaving my family,
I came to your home,
putting myself to
test.
Smiling…
as you approached my bed,
wishing me sweet
dreams,
you covered my mouth
to muffle my screams.
As I lay here
sobbing,
Wondering…
Why this had to be,
you stole my
innocence,
and rewrote my life,
not caring or considering
if you
ruined me.
I’ll not give up.
I’ll show I’m strong.
It’s you who
are bad.
I’ve done nothing wrong.
Should have killed himself before he molested those boys. They never feel guilty until they are caught. Bastards all of them!
How proud people must feel to proclaim they're catholic.I used to be and now I'm proud to say I am no longer catholic.I live very close to McCort HS and it's comical when our news reports on their,predicament, and following that a commercial comes on with McCort proudly telling us how wonderful their school is.Now that's an education that will follow you for the rest of your life.
The roman catholic "church" is an apostate church. They worship and exalt Mary over Jesus, they bow down to idols, the believe Mary was conceived by Immaculate Conception and was sinless as her Son. The catholic church is the biblically prophesized whore of babylon and will roll up nicely with all other apostate churches in the current ongoing ecumenical movement that will persecute the real church, the One church the church that claims Jesus Christ as Lord and savior, that acknowledges His deity, that recognizes that the only way to the Father is through the Son, that we are not all Children of God, and that we don't all just automatically go to Heaven when we die. The rabble has a propensity for crucifying those who speak the truth.
One down, thousands to go--Church still infested, put a giant tent over the institution and infuse with pesticide. Collapsed Catholic here, took myself, family and money escaped years ago--delighted that I did, couldn't take the hypocrisy and made up hype.
SWEET! Gotta love it.