Bro. Stephen P. Baker- Assignment Record

Assignment Record – Brother Stephen P. Baker, T.O.R. aka Paul Stephen Baker

Summary of Case: A Third Order Regular Franciscan brother of the Province of the Immaculate Conception, Baker was a religion teacher, baseball coach and athletic trainer at high schools in Youngstown, OH, Johnstown, PA, and Orchard Lake, MI. He worked, too, at a high school in Inver Lake, MN. Baker was also assigned at some point earlier in his career to high schools and a boys' home in Norfolk, VA. Baker is said to have sexually abused "dozens, if not hundreds" of students, male and female. His modus operandi is said to have been to tell athletes they needed massages to prevent injuries, then to proceed to rub them down with oils, including their genitals. He is also accused of digitally penetrating them. Former students have said he would grope them in hallways and during religion class. One former female student has reported that he requested she show up for treatment of a sports injury in loose fitting clothing and no underwear. Baker was the subject of a 2012 settlement with eleven of his accusers. He is said by a superior to have been removed from ministry "long before 2010." Baker took his own life January 26, 2013.

Start	Stop	Parish/Assignment	Town/Accusations	State	Position	Notes
1970s Richmond bishop was John Joyce Russell (1958-1973), followed by Walter Francis Sullivan (1974-2003)		Holy Trinity	Norfolk	VA		Holy Trinity had a school.
1970s		James Barry-Robinson High School and Home for Boys	Norfolk	VA		This assignment is per a James Barry-Robinson website.
Jan. 1978	June 1978	JFK High School	Youngstown	OH
1977 St. Paul and Minneapolis archbishop was John Robert Roach (1975-1995)	1981	St. Patrick's	Inver Grove Heights • Baker was accused of sexually abusing a boy who met Baker when he was an 8th grader in 1977. The boy's mother taught religion class with with Baker at St. Patrick's. This accuser reported the abused to the archdiocese in 2003, who referred him to the T.O.R. Provincial Superior, Rev. Anthony Criscitelli. The man received a settlement from the T.O.R.s in 2005.	MN	Catechetical Coordinator
1981	1983
1983 Detroit archbishop was Edmund Casimir Szoka (1981-1990)	1985	St. Mary's Preparatory High School	Orchard Lake • A man who received a settlement from the T.O.R.s in 2005 after reporting abuse as a child by Baker in MN said he was told in 2003 by T.O.R. Provincial Superior, Rev. Anthony Criscitelli, that "there was a similar abuse claim from Michigan". • In March 2013 the father of a former St. Mary's student stated publicly that in March 1985 he confronted Baker and a St. Mary's administrator after learning that Baker sexually abused the man's son. • By March 27, 2013 six former St. Mary's students had emerged with accusations that Baker sexually abused them. All came forward after Baker's suicide.	MI	wrestling coach, teacher, athletic trainer, dormitory official	St. Mary's prep. had 235-219 students, all male. On Jan. 31, 2013 Detroit archdiocesan officials said that there have been no reports of abuse against Baker.
Aug. 1985 Youngstown bishop was James William Malone (1968-1995)	June 1992	JFK High School	Youngstown • Baker was accused in a lawsuit of the sexual abuse of 10 male JFK students, and a boy from another school, from 1986-1990. His accusers said his modus operandi was to tell them they needed massages to avoid sports injuries, then to fondle and digitally penetrate them. They said he also groped students in the hallways, and that sexual abuse also occurred on sports the teams' road trips. • In late 2012 a 12th man not involved in the earlier lawsuit disclosed past abuse by Baker. • In Jan. 2013, after allegations of Baker's abuse became known publicly, many more accusers came forward. By Jan. 18 there were 18 alleged victims from JFK and 2 from another school, St. Mary's. • One former JFK student, a woman, disclosed in Jan. 2013 that when she was being treated for a sports injury Baker told her to come back to the training room at 6pm in loose fitting shirts and no underwear. She did not comply. • In Feb. 2013 the mother of a former student stated that her son took his own life in 2003 due to having been abused by Baker. She added that she knew other Baker victims whose lives were "turned upside-down".	OH	religion teacher, sports trainer, baseball coach	Diocesan officials stated in Jan. 2013 that they first became aware of allegations against Baker in 2009. Youngstown bishop George Murray said in Jan. 2013 that the diocese settled because they believed the allegations against Baker to be credible.
		St. Mary's Middle School	Warren • Baker has been accused of abusing students at St. Mary's.	OH		St. Mary's was a "feeder" school for JFK High School.
1992 Altoona-Johnstown bishop was Joseph Victor Adamec (1987-2011)	2000	Bishop McCort High School	Johnstown • When news of the allegations against Baker broke in Jan. 2013, former McCort students began to surface with their own accounts of abuse by Baker in the 1990s-more than 15 by Jan. 19. Again, the former students said Baker would have them strip naked in the athletic training room, and proceed to massage them, genitals included. There were also reports of Baker groping students during religion class. • In a March 2013 lawsuit a woman accused Baker of sexually abusing her when she was a Bishop McCort student. She said the abuse began when she was 15 years-old and that that Baker sexually abused other female McCort athletes and cheerleaders.	PA	religion teacher, sports trainer, baseball coach	McCort High School had 545-473 students. Per Rev. Patrick Quinn, T.O.R.,Provincial Superior of the Province of the Immaculate Conception in 2013, Baker was removed from ministry in 2000 after an allegation stemming from the 1980s surfaced. Baker's accuser sued, received a settlement in 2002, and was required to sign a confidentiality agreement. The Altoona-Johnstown diocese issued a statement in Jan. 2013 that it learned of allegations against Baker in November 2011.
2000	2003	St. Bernardine Monastery	Newry	PA
2003	2010	St. Joseph Friary	Hollidaysburg	PA
2007	2011	Mount Aloysius College	Cresson	PA	volunteer baseball scorekeeper	Mount Aloysius College officals stated in Feb. 2013 that they were not told that Baker was the subject of allegations of sexual abuse.
2010	2011	St. Joseph Friary	Hollidaysburg	PA		Baker is not listed in the 2011 Directory as at any of the Altoona diocese's T.O.R. monasteries. Baker may have had access to children through the late 2000s.
Adamec was succeeded as Altoona-Johnstown bishop by Mark Leonard Bartchak (2011-)	2013	St. Bernardine Monastery	Newry • Allegations have emerged stemming from Baker's time here.	PA		JFK High, the Youngstown diocese, and the T.O.R. Franciscans settled with 11 of Baker's accusers in 2012. By Jan. 27, 2013 about 60 former JFK and McCort students had come forward with allegations of sexual abuse by Baker. By Jan 31, 2013 more than 80 had come forward. Some of them stated they believed there were dozens and possibly hundreds of students victimized by Baker. Baker took his own life Jan. 26, 2013.

Sources: Official Catholic Directory (New York: P.J. Kenedy and Sons, 1992-2011)

Priests in a Parish: We use the following convention to show a priest's place among the clergy of a parish: 1/2 means that he is the first priest listed in the Official Catholic Directory (usually the pastor) and that there is a total of two priests at the parish. The shorthand 3/4 means that the priest is listed third on a four-priest roster. See our sample page from the Directory.

Note: The Official Catholic Directory aims to report the whereabouts of Catholic priests in the United States on January 1 of the Directory's publication year. Our working assumption is that a priest listed in the Directory for a given year was at the same assignment for part of the previous year as well. However, Kenedy and Sons will sometimes accept updates well into the year of publication. Diocesan clergy records are rarely available to correct this information. The Directory is also sometimes misleading or wrong. We have tried to create an accurate assignment record, given the source materials and their limitations. Assignment records are a work in progress and we are always improving the records that we post. Please email us with new information and corrections.

This assignment record collates Baker's career history as it is represented in the Official Catholic Directory with allegations as reported in the media. We make no representation regarding the truth of the allegation we report, and we remind our readers that the U.S. legal system presumes that a person accused of or charged with a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Similarly, individuals who may be defendants in civil actions are presumed not to be liable for such claims unless a plaintiff proves otherwise. Admissions of guilt or liability are not typically a part of civil or private settlements. For more information, see our posting policy.

This assignment record was last updated on April 3, 2013.