A priest who worked in several Luzerne County churches and Bishop O'Reilly High School in Kingston, as well as SS. Peter and Paul Church in Scranton, has been defrocked by the Vatican after accusations of sexual misconduct with minors. Edward J. Shoback was an active priest in the diocese from 1967 through 2004.
He was relieved of his duties after the diocese said it learned he allegedly engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor two decades before.
An allegation concerning a second minor surfaced in 2006.
In a statement published Thursday in The Catholic Light newspaper, diocesan Chancellor James B. Earley announced Mr. Shoback "has been dismissed from the clerical state ... in response to a finding of sexual misconduct involving minors."
Shoback, 67, cannot function as a priest, hold office in the church or teach theology in a Catholic institution, the statement said.
Shoback has never been criminally charged. Efforts to reach him were unsuccessful Thursday.
Diocesan spokesman William Genello wrote in an e-mail the diocese would have no comment beyond Chancellor Earley's statement.
Shoback served at St. Ann Parish in Shohola, St. Stephen Parish in Plymouth, Holy Rosary Parish in Ashley, St. Aloysius Parish in Wilkes-Barre, St. John Nepomucene Parish in Luzerne, Transfiguration Parish in West Hazleton and SS. Peter and Paul Parish in Scranton, according to The Catholic Light. He was also director of religious education at the former Bishop O'Reilly High School in Kingston while residing at St. Therese Parish in Wilkes-Barre.
At least 25 priests from the Scranton Diocese have been accused of having sexual contact with minors since 1950, according to diocesan reports.
In 2007, the diocese agreed to a $3 million settlement with a Duryea man who was sexually abused by a diocesan priest from 1999 through 2002, beginning when he was 14. The settlement was largely paid through the diocese's insurance carriers and its own insurance funds, the diocese said at the time.
The priest in that case, Albert M. Liberatore Jr., 45, was defrocked by the Vatican after he pleaded guilty to abusing the boy and was sentenced to 10 years probation.
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