JOHNSTOWN, CAMBRIA COUNTY - An area high school's board of trustees asks their principal to step down.
They didn't say why, but a lawsuit was filed against that school earlier this week about a scandal involving a former employee.
Bishop McCort Catholic High School's Principal Ken Salem was placed on leave earlier today by the school's Board of Trustees.
The board in their statement did not give a reason why. The spokesman for the Altoona Johnstown Catholic Diocese says it was the board's decision, but they weren't given a reason either. But Salem's lawyer has also released a statement giving us some insight into the reason.
Salem's lawyer says "The unfortunate actions of Brother Stephen Baker were unknown to Ken Salem and he has been shocked and grieved to discover that these incidents of abuse occurred."
This week, five more people filed lawsuits against local religious institutions and leaders including Bishop McCort High because of alleged sex crimes by Baker. Stephen Baker was a Teacher and Trainer at Bishop McCort in the late 1990's. He killed himself in a monastery in Hollidaysburg in late January. Salem's lawyer goes on to say "This action by the board violates every tenet of fundamental fairness which we have come to cherish in the United States of America."
Ken Salem's only been the principal of Bishop McCort since 2006. He was the football team's Head Coach prior to that.
