The Tribune-Democrat
January 30, 2013
Kathy Mellott kmellott@tribdem.com
JOHNSTOWN — When Franciscan friar Stephen Baker took his life Saturday, the possibility of any criminal prosecution against him ended.
But adults who were aware of Baker’s abuse and failed to report it could face consequences, Cambria County’s top law enforcement officer said Wednesday.
District Attorney Kelly Callihan said she is seeking advice from the state Attorney General’s office on reporting laws and the statute of limitations in place more than a decade ago when Baker was a teacher at Bishop McCort Catholic High School.
“If the abuse alleged is as widespread as it appears to be, then I believe the criminal investigation should continue,” Callihan said.
Baker, 62, was living at St. Bernardine Monastery outside Hollidaysburg when he died of a self-inflicted knife wound to the chest. Several dozen men accuse him of molesting them when they were students at Bishop McCort in the early 1990s and early 2000s.
Callihan was not specific about how any possible investigation would proceed, but she urged anyone abused by Baker who has not come forward to do so.
Baker worked at Bishop McCort as a religion instructor and in the athletic department for about a decade. In the early 2000s, he was transferred for a couple of years to St. Bernardine. He then went to St. Joseph Friary in Hollidaysburg through 2009-2010.
At some point about two years ago, it is believed he again took up residency at the monastery. But he is not listed under any of the Franciscan monasteries from 2010 until now, according to BishopAccountability.org.
Former Bishop McCort students started coming forward two weeks ago following the announcement of a civil agreement with Baker involving 11 men who were students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio.
The civil agreement involved allegations against Baker during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Baker worked at JFK before transferring to Bishop McCort.
Allegations from former Bishop McCort students portray a sense of common knowledge that Baker acted inappropriately with male students, especially some of the athletes.
Before Baker’s suicide Saturday, it was estimated that more than 50 men had contacted one of four attorneys regarding claims of molestation. Their allegations gave rise to speculation that the number of alleged victims could reach 200.
At the time of his death, the friar was said to be removed from any contact with children and living at the monastery, where he served as the cook.
Suicide note
Baker wrote a brief apology for his actions in a single-page note found by investigators after his death, according to the Associated Press.
Two sources close to the story, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the note was not an apology to the boys Baker allegedly molested, but rather to church officials.
Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross did not return telephone calls seeking information about the note.
The Philadelphia district attorney’s office successfully prosecuted the most senior U.S. Catholic clergyman last year for endangering the welfare of a child by transferring child-molesting priests among unsuspecting parishes.
Monsignor William Lynn was sentenced in August to three to six years in prison for covering up child abuse by priests in Philadelphia, according to published reports at the time.
Lynn worked for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in a role similar to personnel director for 800 priests. A jury convicted him of one count of endangering the welfare of a child.
He was acquitted of a second child endangerment count and conspiracy.
Lynn served in the oversight capacity during the 1990s through 2003, about the time Baker allegedly was molesting boys at Bishop McCort, which then was an Altoona-Johnstown diocesan high school.
In 2008, Bishop McCort moved out from the diocese umbrella and now operates as an independent school.
Greensburg attorney Susan Williams, representing three of Baker’s alleged victims, last week filed a notice of a pending civil lawsuit. The notice named as defendants Bishop McCort Catholic High School, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, the Third Order Regular Franciscans and the Youngstown (Ohio) Diocese.
Attempts by SNAP – the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests – to research Baker’s background show he worked for another diocese prior to transferring to JFK.
From 1983-1985 he was at St. Mary’s Prep School in Orchard Lake, Mich., SNAP’s Judy Jones said in an email Wednesday.
She is unaware of any molestation claims against Baker by St. Mary’s students.
SNAP held a rally outside the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Detroit, urging the bishop there to reach out to anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered abuse by Baker.
In 1977, Baker worked at the James Barry-Robinson School and Home for Boys, SNAP said.
__________________________________
Hollidaysburg friar faced accusations that he assaulted dozens of students
The Altoona Mirror
January 27, 2013
By Russ O’Reilly (rore…@altoonamirror.com) , The Altoona Mirror
HOLLIDAYSBURG – The Franciscan friar accused last week of sexually abusing dozens of Bishop McCort High School students during in the 1990s died from a self-inflicted stab wound to the heart Saturday morning, Blair County Coroner Patty Ross said.
He left a note, Ross said, but it is totally confidential.”
Baker was found in his room Saturday morning at St. Bernardine Monastery by another friar, Blair Township Police Chief Roger White stated in a press release. He was 62.
White, state police and the county coroner were dispatched at 7:35 a.m. to St. Bernardine Monastery at 768 Monastery Road, where they investigated until a medical van carried away Bakers covered body minutes before a distant noon church bell rang.
Baker allegedly abused dozens of young boys, according to allegations that began surfacing recently in Ohio and Pennsylvania. He spent the mid-1980s teaching and coaching in Ohio, then at McCort from 1993 to 2000.
“These things are tragedies for everyone involved,” Blair County attorney Richard Serbin said. “This is just one facet of that. This is why its important to stop predators before they hurt kids.”
He said Baker’s death has not changed attorneys’ plans to investigate clients’ claims.
“Bakers death does not materially impact the claims against the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown or the Third Order Regular Franciscans,” Serbin said.
Boston-based attorney Mitchell Garabedian said Baker may have “hundreds” of victims from McCort.
“I will continue to investigate my clients’ claims and represent them with regard to negligence of Bakers supervisors,” Garabedian said.
Baker served as a religion teacher and athletic trainer at Bishop McCort in Johnstown from 1990 to 2000.
He was removed from public ministry after the St. Bernardine Monastery was made aware of an allegation involving a man who was allegedly abused by Baker in the 1980s, according to Father Patrick Quinn, minister provincial at the monastery.
Despite his removal from ministry, the Mirror reported Saturday that Baker continued to maintain a presence in the area, particularly involving Bishop McCort athletics.
Garabedian questions whether Baker should have been at McCort at all.
“Should he have been there? Should he have been assigned those duties?” he asked.
It was reported last week by the Warren (Ohio) Tribune Chronicle that a settlement was reached with 11 men who claim they were molested by Baker while he coached baseball at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, from 1986 to 1990.
The sexual abuse allegedly occurred in sports-injury related situations including hot tub massages, attorneys said.
Youngstown Catholic Diocese Bishop George Murry apologized Thursday for Bakers actions while at John F. Kennedy High School.
The apology “rang hollow,” Garabedian said.
As a result of Baker’s death, a budding criminal investigation of Baker will end, Cambria County District Attorney Kelly Callihan said.
Callihan said she learned last week of Bakers alleged crimes and has been working with a local law firm to refer claims to Johnstown Police.
“We were coordinating to get people in touch with the police department,” she said.
She confirmed that police “were on notice” of accusations against Baker that surfaced in 2011.
Callihan said she did not learn of allegations against Baker until published news stories last week, but she confirmed that Bishop Mark Bartchak of the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown reported allegations against Baker directly to Johnstown Police in 2011.
After a settlement announcement last week involving 11 men in Ohio, the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown released a statement that individuals notified Bartchak of allegations against Baker in 2011.
“From what I found out, the Johnstown Police did interview the alleged victims,” Callihan said. Callihan said the Johnstown police, who did not return calls to the Mirror Saturday, would have to confirm her information. But to her knowledge, “Victims were adamant, they did not want criminal charges filed against Baker,” she said.
Bishop McCort, a non-diocesan school governed by a board of trustees, hired Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, a Pittsburgh-based law firm, this week to conduct an internal investigation regarding the abuse allegations.
Jon Paros, a Johnstown resident and 2007 Bishop McCort alumnus, said the abuse allegedly committed by Baker was a shock to him. He called Baker’s suicide a shame.
“People are in shock,” he said. People in the relatively small McCort community are quiet on the subject “but its the elephant in the room,” he said.
“No one’s really sure what to say or how to say it.”
Serbin is investigating claims of 12 former Bishop McCort students, and said he “finds no joy in Bakers death.”
“Its startling news, though it doesnt surprise me,” Serbin said.
He said Baker is the third clergy member to take his life because of child abuse litigation that he has been involved with.
Ross said Bakers death was an act of someone “really unbalanced.”
“To cause a wound into your body is very unusual,” Ross said. “If you’re driven so far under, I suppose you have the constitution to do anything.
“I’ve talked to over 250 abuse victims over the years. Every one is different. They are affected differently by the abuse. They are probably affected differently by Baker’s death, she said. “Some may say ‘good riddance;’ others may share in the tragedy.”
______________________________
‘I’m sorry for what I did to the church’
Friar accused of abuse at JFK leaves suicide note, letters to others
Brother Stephen Baker, the Franciscan friar accused of committing sexual offenses against students at Warren John F. Kennedy and Johnstown, Pa., Bishop McCort Catholic high schools left a note saying: “I’m sorry for what I did to the church.”
In suicide note, Brother Baker apologized ‘for what I did to the church’
vindy.com (Youngstown, Ohio)
Published: 1/29/13 @ 12:08
By Ed Runyan
JOHNSTOWN, PA.
Brother Stephen Baker, the Franciscan friar accused of committing sex offenses against students at Warren John F. Kennedy and Johnstown, Pa., Bishop McCort Catholic high schools, left a suicide note saying: “I’m sorry for what I did to the church.”
The note was found near his body in his room at the St. Bernadine Monastery in Newry, Pa., Saturday morning after Baker stabbed himself in the chest. Baker was dead at the scene, and his death was ruled a suicide.
Officials also found other letters in sealed envelopes in the room, and those letters are being given to the people whose names are on them, said Patty Ross, Blair County coroner.
“He basically just apologizes for his behavior,” Ross said. “There was one open note [near Baker’s body] that just said, I’m sorry. I’m sorry to the church, to everyone and also to his sister.”
“There were other [sealed] letters” addressed to specific people, she said. “Of course we wouldn’t open those.”
Ross later restated the contents of the letter as: “I’m sorry for what I did to the church.”
At a Jan. 16 news conference in Trumbull County, two former JFK students told reporters they were among 11 men who were sexually assaulted by Baker while they were students there from 1986 to 1990.
Baker served as athletic trainer, religion teacher and baseball coach while at JFK. He held similar positions at Bishop McCort.
The 11 were part of a financial settlement reached for them by a Boston attorney. The settlement was paid by Baker’s religious order, the Franciscan Third Order Regular Province of the Immaculate Conception, and the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.
The accusers and their attorney said Baker massaged their genitals and digitally penetrated them while giving massages in the school’s small, closed training room and in other locations.
Meanwhile, a Greensburg, Pa., attorney filed a notice with the Cambria County, Pa., Common Pleas Court on Jan. 22 indicating she has clients with a claim against Bishop McCort High School, where Baker was assigned after he left Warren JFK.
The notice also names as defendants the Catholic dioceses in Youngs-town and Altoona- Johnstown, and Baker’s religious order. Atty. Susan N. Williams said the notice, called a writ of summons, indicates to the defendants that a suit might be filed later. The notice alleges intentional negligence and lists Bishop McCort High School as the lead defendant.
The Youngstown diocese is named because of the sexual assaults Baker is accused of committing against students at JFK during his time there from 1986 to 1991, Williams said.
“I think it’s possible there was some knowledge on the part of the diocese,” Williams said.
“At some point, the diocese may have known something and may or may not have passed something on to the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown,” she said.
Nancy L. Yuhasz, chancellor for the Youngstown diocese, said she could not comment on the filing because she had not yet seen it.
“If the information was there and they chose for whatever reason to ignore it, that also would be a problem,” Williams said of officials within the Youngstown and Altoona-Johnstown dioceses.
Bishop George V. Murry of the Youngstown diocese said last week the diocese was first alerted about the Brother Baker case in 2009 when the victims’ attorney sent a letter requesting information about the students’ transcripts and indicated there was “a possibility of an abuse claim.”
The diocese has said Baker was never a member of the clergy of the Catholic Diocese of Youngstown, and the diocese had no legal liability in the matter.
Bishop Murry added that the diocese found no records prior to 2009 indicating any sex allegations against Baker.
_____________________________
Franciscan friar accused of molesting students at schools decades ago stabs himself in the heart after leaving a suicide note apologizing for his actions
The Daily Mail (dailymail.co.uk)
PUBLISHED: 20:22 GMT, 29 January 2013 | UPDATED: 20:24 GMT, 29 January 2013anciscan
A Franciscan friar accused of molesting students at schools in Ohio and Pennsylvania decades ago stabbed himself in the heart after leaving a note apologizing for his actions, a coroner said today.
The note left by Brother Stephen Baker, whose body was found on Saturday at the St Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg, was ‘not addressed to anyone specific’, Blair County Coroner Patricia Ross said.
‘The note was an apology for his behavior,’ Ross told the Altoona Mirror, without offering specifics about the note, which was just a few lines.
Brother Stephen Baker, 62, was named on January 16 when the diocese announced 11 legal settlements stemming from his alleged abuse of students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, three decades ago
Baker, 62, was named on January 16 when the Youngstown, Ohio, diocese announced 11 legal settlements stemming from his alleged abuse of students at John F. Kennedy High School in Warren, Ohio, three decades ago.
Since then, Mitchell Garabedian, a Boston attorney involved in the Ohio cases, said former Kennedy students have come forward to allege abuse by Baker.
Garabedian and other attorneys said about 20 several former students at Bishop McCort High School in Johnstown, also have come forward with similar accusations against Baker, who was a teacher and trainer with the school’s baseball team.
The former Pennsylvania students allege that Baker assaulted or molested students under the guise of providing therapeutic treatment or medical care for sports injuries, said Michael Parrish, the Johnstown attorney representing some of those students.
Baker taught and coached at Kennedy from 1986 to the early 1990s and was at Bishop McCort from 1992 to 2000.
One expert on clergy abuse said the suicide and note may not have much impact on future lawsuits.
Brother Baker was found in St Bernardine Monastery in Hollidaysburg on Saturday after the abuse allegations came out a few weeks ago
Marci A. Hamilton, a professor of law at Yeshiva University in New York, wrote in an email that the note ‘makes it easier for plaintiffs in the sense that it is an admission to some wrongdoing’.
But she added that’s not necessary when a number of unrelated victims say that the same person abused them, because ‘they are corroborating the claims of wrongdoing with even more specificity’.
Father Patrick Quinn, the head of Baker’s order, the Third Order Regular Franciscans, has said it’s not clear what impact, if any, the death would have on the claims that have surfaced.
In the Kennedy case, mediation settlements involved the school, the Third Order Regular Franciscans and the Youngstown diocese, which said it was unaware of the allegations until nearly 20 years after the alleged abuse.
Youngstown Bishop George Murry said on Monday that when he was informed sometime in 2011 about the alleged abuse at Kennedy, he called Franciscans and was told Baker had already been removed from public ministry to keep him away from children.
Because of statute of limitation issues, the cases were resolved without criminal charges or lawsuits, Garabedian said.
It was not immediately clear what may become of the Pennsylvania allegations.
One attorney representing three alleged victims has already filed a notice that she intends to sue Baker’s order, Bishop McCort and the Altoona-Johnstown diocese, which used to run the school.
Bishop McCort’s board has also announced it is investigating the students’ claims.
________________________________
Many questions, few answers | Bishop McCort embroiled in allegations
Johnstown, PA
27 January 2013
JOHNSTOWN — There are a lot of troubling questions that have arisen over the past two weeks about a Franciscan brother who taught at Bishop McCort Catholic High School from 1992 through the early 2000s.
As of now, many of those have gone unanswered.
We’re afraid that, once revealed, the answers regarding Brother Stephen P. Baker might be even more disturbing.
Baker, who now lives at the Motherhouse of St. Bernardine Monastery of the Franciscan Friars Third Order Regular near Hollidaysburg, was accused of sexually molesting boys at the Warren, Ohio, high school where he taught in the 1980s. The school, diocese and Friars reportedly negotiated settlements with 11 of his accusers there.
Shortly after those media reports reached Johnstown, men started coming forward to say that Baker had done the same to them while he was at Bishop McCort.
Five former Crimson Crushers initially came forward, and Greensburg attorney Susan Williams filed a notice in county court on Thursday that a civil lawsuit is being filed on behalf of Victims No. 1, 2 and 3.
But the number of alleged victims could be much, much larger than that, according to a New England attorney who has been getting calls from former Bishop McCort students.
“There are hundreds of victims at McCort, based on my experience, since 1995,” Mitchell Garabedian told The Tribune-Democrat’s Kathy Mellott. “They span 15 years, and some of those may be within the statute of limitations (for criminal prosecution.)”
There are plenty of questions about what happened after Baker came to Johnstown.
They include:
— Did any teachers or administrators at Bishop McCort know about Baker’s alleged actions while he was still employed by the school? If so, did they immediately come forward?
— When did Baker stop working at Bishop McCort and why?
— Was Baker a certified athletic trainer? If not, why was he allowed to perform duties associated with the position?
— What did Baker do after he left Bishop McCort? Has he had any access to young people since leaving the school?
Bishop McCort administrators have ordered a voluntary internal review and investigation of the misconduct allegations and have hired Kathleen A. Gallagher and the Pittsburgh-based law firm of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott to conduct the investigation.
The Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown has been very quiet thus far. Bishop Mark Bartchak said through his spokesman that he was made aware of the allegations in November 2011, and he contacted civil authorities and advised the individuals who brought the information to do the same.
“Bishop Bartchak did not make any public statement about the case because he was assured that civil authorities would conduct an investigation into the matter,” diocese spokesman Tony DeGol said.
For him to comment on an ongoing investigation would not have been appropriate, DeGol said.
We understand the reluctance to speak out about the allegations at this point, but we do hope that those associated with Bishop McCort will be as forthcoming as possible with information and cooperate fully with the investigation.
The students, alumni and supporters of Bishop McCort deserve to have their questions answered.
Suicide, without, to our knowledge, an apology to his victims. The coward`s way out.
This case, as sad as it is, has some eerie parallels right here close to home. Unfortunately for anyone concerned, I do not believe the “official” story. Mike.