Three
former leaders of a Franciscan religious order in Pennsylvania were
charged with felonies on Tuesday for allowing a friar who was a known
sexual predator to repeatedly work with children, including as a high
school athletic trainer who massaged students naked, and pull some out
of class for what a grand jury report called “private physical therapy
sessions.”
Tuesday’s
complaint was the first time members of a Roman Catholic religious
order have been charged with aiding an abuser. While the church
has faced thousands of lawsuits over sexual abuse by members of the
clergy in the past decade, criminal prosecutions of the supervisors
accused of covering up for abusers have been rare.
