Father Edward Shoback – Diocese of Scranton

Assignment Record:

DatesAssignment
Approx. 1967 Ordained in the Diocese of Scranton
1967 St. Ann Church, Shohola, PA
1967 – 1968 St. Stephen Church, Plymouth, PA
1968 – 1970 Holy Rosary Church, Ashley, PA
1970 – 1974 St. Therese Church, Wilkes-Barre, PA
1974 – 1980 St. Aloysius Church, Wilkes-Barre, PA
1980 – 1987 St. John Nepomucene Church, Luzerne, PA
1987 – 1989 Transfiguration Church, West Hazleton, PA
1989 – 2004 Ss. Peter and Paul Church, Scranton, PA
Sources:
  • Report I of the 40th Statewide Investigating Grand Jury, released by the Office of the Pennsylvania Attorney General, dated July 27, 2018; and
  • The Official Catholic Directory, Kenedy & Sons

According to the Grand Jury report, the Diocese of Scranton removed Father Shoback from active ministry in 2004 and dismissed Father Shoback from the clerical state in 2009.

Summary:
  • Father Edward Shoback was accused of sexually abusing a male minor child on one occasion in approximately 1975 when the boy was approximately twelve years old. At the time of the sexual abuse, Father Shoback was assigned to St. Aloysius Church in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and the boy served as an altar boy at the church. The incident of sexual abuse took place at a hotel in Hawley, Pennsylvania, on an occasion when Father Shoback took the boy on a trip.
  • The sexual abuse by Father Shoback included the following: Father Shoback pulled down the boy’s pants, exposing the boy’s penis and testicles, and Father Shoback masturbated the boy. During the incident of sexual abuse, Father Shoback pressed his body against the boy’s body such that the boy could feel Father Shoback’s erect penis against the boy’s body over Father Shoback’s clothing.
  • The claim settled in January 2020 in the high five figures.