In a first-of-its-kind case, prosecutors in Pennsylvania announced charges on Tuesday against three Franciscan friars who they say facilitated the abuse of dozens of children.

Prosecutors say that all three men knew about sexual abuse allegations against Brother Stephen Baker dating back to the 1980s but that the three friars continued to place Baker in jobs that gave him access to children, up until 2010.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane announces charges Tuesday against leaders of a Franciscan Order.

Confronted with a lawsuit that made the accusations public, Baker killed himself in 2013, at age 62. On Monday, state prosecutors announced that three men who supervised him – Brothers Anthony M. Criscitelli, 61, Robert J. D’Aversa, 69, and Giles A. Schinelli, 73 – are each charged with one count of endangering the welfare of children and one count of criminal conspiracy.

“These men knew there was a child predator in their organization. Yet they continued to put him in positions where he had countless opportunities to prey upon children,” Pennsylvania Attorney General Kathleen Kane said in a statement. “Their silence resulted in immeasurable pain and suffering for so many victims. These men turned a blind eye to the innocent children they were trusted to protect.”

Marci Hamilton, a constitutional law scholar at Yeshiva University and prominent attorney for child sex abuse survivors, said that the Pennsylvania attorney general’s decision to charge men who supervised abusers is rare.

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