A former Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexual assault of an altar boy in northern Pennsylvania in the 1990s has been sentenced to five to 10 years in prison.
The (Williamsport) Sun-Gazette says 66-year-old Thomas Shoback of Wilkes-Barre was sentenced Monday in Tioga County Court.
He was convicted in May of seven counts of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse and endangering the welfare of a child.
Prosecutors alleged that the assaults occurred at St. Mary's Parish in Blossburg from 1991 to 1997, at the parish rectory and a private cabin in Farmington Township.
The victim testified that he felt "controlled" by Shoback if he didn't spend time with him and do the things the priest wanted him to, and that Shoback would become angry, but that he never threatened him, according to the paper.
The victim said the relationship continued even after Shoback left the parish and was transferred to another one, when he would go there to do odd jobs for the priest, according to the paper.
According to the paper, the victim told police he said he never told anyone about the abuse, not his parents, older brother or even his (now wife) until November of 2011 when he called the Diocese of Scranton to report the alleged abuse.
The Diocese of Scranton suspended Shoback in November 2011 after the allegations first surfaced. At the time, he was working at a parish in Jermyn, Lackawanna County.
