Advocacy group calls for Youngstown Diocese investigation | WKBN.com

It seems that the Diocese of Youngstown (OH) and the Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown (PA) debacles, specifically Brother Stephen Baker's involvement, are connected.  What appears to have brought about Hoatson's call to arms is this:

Youngstown Catholic Bishop George Murry is being called on to settle 28 cases of child sexual abuse allegedly perpetrated Brother Stephen Baker, who was a coach at Warren John F. Kennedy High School in the 1980's and 1990's.
,,,
The recently completed Pennsylvania investigation revealed decades of alleged systematic protection of sexual predators within the community of priests and religious leaders in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona Johnstown, including Brother Stephen Baker.

Both articles concerning Diocese of Youngstown also cite this narrative, Poland mother who says her son’s suicide resulted from being sexually abused by a priest at JFK demands transparency, as possible impetus.   The Diocese response as reported through March 7, 2016:

In 2013, the Youngstown Diocese announced abuse settlements with 11 former students of Baker’s. Road to Recovery says 28 more students are still waiting for Bishop George Murry to settle their claims.

Monsignor John Zuraw, chancellor of the Diocese of Youngstown, said the diocese does not have a secret archive, nor does it have secret files. He said the situation is completely different from one that was reported at the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese.

“This is the second wave of individuals who have come forward,” he said.

Zuraw said the diocese is working with its legal counsel and the victims’ legal counsel. While he said the diocese had no idea of Brother Baker’s inappropriate behavior, the Youngstown Diocese did reach out to staff and teachers who were at JFK.

He said the staff that was contacted said they weren’t aware of the alleged abuse.

The Catholic Church is in deep trouble as I feel this story, including both Ohio and Pennsylvania, are going to get much worse.

The leader of a national support group for victims of sexual abuse by priests and other Catholic Church clergy today called upon county prosecutors in Mahoning and Trumbull counties to urge Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine to launch an aggressive investigation into sexual abuse within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Youngstown.

At a press conference this morning outside the headquarters of the diocese, Robert Hoatson, president of the New Jersey-based Road to Recovery, “We want the same type of investigation as was done in Altoona {Pa.].”[sic]
,,,

About 50 cases of abuse at JFK and St. Mary’s Middle School in Warren have been reported, and the dioceses has settled about 11 of those claims, Hoatson said.

All speakers also criticized Youngstown Bishop George Murry and diocesan leaders for their handling of the cases.

Advocacy group calls for Youngstown Diocese investigation | WKBN.com

UPDATED::Hundreds of Children Allegedly Abused Over 40-Year Period in Pennsylvania Diocese, Grand Jury Determines | Mother Jones

 

UPDATE:: Deceased Warren JFK coach named in priest abuse investigation

A hidden file on a former friar and coach who was accused of sexually abusing 11 students at Warren John F. Kennedy School was one of the first clues that led investigators to evidence that hundreds of children were sexually abused over a period of at least 40 years by priests or religious leaders assigned to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.
,,,
The report says that during the two-year investigation, Special Agents from the Office of the Attorney General found a “Secret Archive” in a safe contained in a cabinet in the Altoona-Johnstown Bishop’s office.  The safe was under lock in which only the Bishop had the key. The safe contained only one file pertaining to a Franciscan Friar, Brother Stephen Baker.

In 2013, an attorney said that while Baker was working as an athletic trainer at Bishop McCourt High School in the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese, he sexually abused several female athletes and cheerleaders at the school.

That same year, it was revealed that 11 students who attended JFK High School between 1986 and 1990, had received the financial settlements for crimes committed against them as children, allegedly by Brother Baker.

Brother Baker was not only the athletic trainer, but the head baseball coach, and a religious teacher at JFK from 1986 until 1991.

__
Just one of hundreds, if not thousands, of articles dealing with the fiasco in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown.  This is fairly regional for me, within a two hour drive, so like the Maurizio case I will be watching this revelation.

After an exhaustive, two-year investigation, a statewide grand jury has determined that hundreds of children were sexually abused by priests and other religious leaders serving the Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown in western Pennsylvania over at least 40 years.

The grand jury issued a 147-page report, made public today, that details widespread alleged abuse involving at least 50 priests and religious leaders, and the findings include accounts of how Diocese superiors took action to conceal the accusations in order to protect the Church's image.

"The heinous crimes these children endured are absolutely unconscionable," said Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen G. Kane, who spoke at a news conference today in Altoona, a small city located two hours east of Pittsburgh. "These predators desecrated a sacred trust and preyed upon their victims in the very places where they should have felt most safe."

In April 2014, the Office of the Attorney General brought the matter to the State Investigating Grand Jury. None of the alleged criminal acts detailed in the report can be prosecuted at this point because many of the alleged abusers have died, the statute of limitations for these crimes has passed, and many of the victims are too "deeply traumatized" to testify in court, according to the Office of the Attorney General.

Hundreds of Children Allegedly Abused Over 40-Year Period in Pennsylvania Diocese, Grand Jury Determines | Mother Jones