CANADA
Leader-Post
Jana G. Pruden
Leader-Post
October 27, 2005
A Catholic priest who picked up underage prostitutes and had sex with them inside the church rectory asked a judge for leniency Wednesday, saying he would be "very thankful to the Lord" if he gets a short sentence in the community without electronic monitoring.
"I ask your mercy and compassion and kindness your honour," Pedro Surtida Aldea said, during sentencing proceedings before Court of Queen's Bench Justice Ted Zarzeczny on Wednesday morning.
The 68-year-old Aldea had previously pleaded guilty to paying for the sexual services of two underage girls on four different occasions, and is slated to be sentenced Friday afternoon. The Crown is asking for a community-based sentence of at least a year; the defence is arguing for a community-based sentence of six months.
Speaking in court Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Bill Jennings said police were alerted to Aldea's activities when a worker at a south Regina photo lab developed sexually explicit pictures of females she thought were in their teens. Aldea is in one of the photos.