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	Ex-Priest Gets Suspended Sentence for Molestation Daily Inter Lake July 10, 2011 http://www.dailyinterlake.com/news/local_montana/article_9269ae1e-aa8c-11e0-a2fe-001cc4c03286.html A retired Episcopal priest who owns a bar in the Yaak in Northwest Montana received a suspended 10-year sentence last month for molesting two girls in Maryland. Donald W. Belcher, 82, had pleaded guilty in April to two counts of child sexual abuse as part of a plea agreement. According to the Newark Post, Belcher will serve no jail time beyond the 75 days he was incarcerated following his arrest late last year. Belcher has to serve five years of supervised probation, must register as a sex offender and can have no unsupervised contact with those under age 18, the Newark Post reported. Belcher was extradited from Libby to Cecil County, Md., in January after being arrested in the Yaak in December. Retired Judge Christian M. Kahl said Belcher could serve his probation in Montana if probation agents allow it, the Newark Post said. Belcher was indicted by a Maryland grand jury last November and charged with molesting a 15-year-old disabled girl in June 2006 and her 8-year-old sister in September 2010 while living in North East, Md. Four charges originally were filed but two later were dropped as part of the plea agreement. Assistant State's Attorney Kevin Urick had asked that Belcher receive nine to 19 years of active incarceration. "If he is capable of molesting a child nine months ago, he is capable of serving time in prison," Urick said, according to the Newark Post. The judge, however, had said previously that he would impose a suspended sentence if a pre-sentence investigation showed Belcher had an otherwise clean criminal record. Belcher and his wife, Gloria, purchased the Dirty Shame Saloon in the Yaak from Rick Carsello in 2006. Belcher was minister of Holy Trinity Church in Troy and St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Libby from 1996 to 2001. He had owned the Yaak River Lodge from 1992 to 2002 before moving to Maryland. Belcher has addresses in both North East, Md., and Yaak. Belcher was ordained a priest in Montana in 1997, according to the website explorehartford.com. He was suspended by the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland on Jan. 6. He served as an associate of pastoral care at St. Mary's Church in Abingdon, Md., from June to December 2008 and was vicar of the Church of the Holy Cross in Street, Md., from 2001 to 2007. He also previously worked as an executive for a pharmaceutical company, as a wine importer and as a stockbroker.
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