ROCHESTER (NY)
Democrat & Chronicle
Gary Craig
Staff writer
(March 11, 2005) — There's no evidence that a Catholic priest accused Thursday of possessing child pornography ever engaged in sexual contact with minors, according to federal prosecutors and his defense attorney.
Federal prosecutors charged the Rev. Michael Volino, 41, with interstate transport of child pornography and possession of child pornography. They allege that he had hundreds of images of child pornography on a computer.
Volino's attorney, John Parrinello, said Volino intends to plead not guilty. At Volino's first court appearance Thursday, where a plea was not required, U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan Feldman placed Volino under house arrest with electronic monitoring.
Volino is staying at an individual's house while the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester tries to arrange housing as he awaits trial.
Feldman also prohibited Volino from interaction with minors.
Parrinello said after the hearing that society, because of the allegations nationwide of priest abuse of minors, could be in an era of "priest-mania," with the public overly and unfairly suspicious of priests.
Posted by kshaw at March 11, 2005 06:38 AM