January 16, 2006

Ex-local priest gets 111 years

SOUTH BEND (IN)
South Bend Tribune

PATRICK M. O'CONNELL
Tribune Staff Writer

Former Little Flower Catholic Church pastor Paul LeBrun was sentenced Friday to the maximum 111 years in prison for sexually abusing Arizona boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Judge Crane McClennen handed out the sentence in Maricopa County Superior Court in Mesa, Ariz., following an hour and a half of emotional testimony by victims and their relatives, the Arizona Republic reported.

After the sentence was read, LeBrun, 49, dressed in a black-and-white striped sheriff's jumpsuit, was consoled by his attorneys and showed little emotion as he shuffled across the courtroom for fingerprinting.

Relatives and friends of the victims applauded the sentence but said it cannot reverse the damage caused by LeBrun.

Posted by kshaw at January 16, 2006 05:53 AM