November 09, 2005

Former Catholic Priest Pleads Guilty To Sexually Abusing Student

BALTIMORE (MD)
ABC 7

Tuesday November 08, 2005 11:37pm

Baltimore, Md. (AP) - A former Catholic priest pleaded guilty Tuesday to sexually abusing a high school student in Baltimore County in 1987.

Jerome Toohey Junior faces up to 15 years in prison for abusing the student between 1987 and 1988 when Toohey was a priest and chaplain at Calvert Hall College high school in Towson, officials said.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in February in Baltimore County Circuit Court.

Former Calvert Hall student Thomas Roberts said he went public and hopes other victims will do the same. Roberts, now a news anchor for CNN, said Toohey apologized.

A John Carroll High School student first accused Toohey of sexual child abuse in 1993. A civil lawsuit by that student was dismissed because civil suits must be filed within three years of an alleged incident. Under a plea agreement, prosecutors won't pursue those allegations.

Posted by kshaw at November 9, 2005 07:58 AM