ARIZONA
The Arizona Republic
Jim Walsh
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 14, 2006 12:00 AM
Relatives and friends of sex crime victims applauded a judge Friday for sentencing a priest to 111 years in prison, but they said no sentence can reverse the damage caused by the Rev. Paul LeBrun.
"We've seen justice, but it's still not going to repair the victims," Mary-Louise Hayes of Tempe said.
Hayes said her cousin was abused as a boy by LeBrun, 49, in South Bend, Ind., at a church where LeBrun was assigned before his 1986 transfer to Arizona.
A ruling by Judge Crane McClennen of Maricopa County Superior Court, who gave LeBrun the maximum sentence, allowed four victims from Indiana to testify on grounds that it could show the priest had a propensity to sexually abuse young boys.
"We absolutely have to get these men off the streets," said Sarah Pattison, a family friend of a West Valley victim. "I wanted to stand up and cheer when the judge gave him that sentence."