MESA (AZ)
The Arizona Republic
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Nov. 14, 2005 06:29 PM
MESA - A former west Valley Catholic priest faces more than 100 years in prison if jurors decide to convict him of molesting six boys in Arizona after a monthlong trial in a Mesa courtroom.
Rev. Paul LeBrun, 49, already stripped of his priestly duties, preyed upon vulnerable young boys whose parents were abusive, divorced or abandoned by their fathers in Arizona and Indiana, prosecutor Suzanne Cohen said.
"He was basically a wolf in sheep's clothing," Cohen said during closing arguments Monday. "Everything he did was to get close to these little boys. Everything he did was to abuse these little boys." advertisement
But defense attorney Ken Hulls said the victims, which included four more boys in Indiana, didn't come forward for decades and are motivated by greed.