BishopAccountability.org
	Churchill Priest Faces More Child Porn Charges Pittsburgh Post-Gazette December 14, 2011 http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11348/1196652-56.stm The pastor of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill, already charged with possessing child pornography, was jailed Tuesday on three new counts of the same felony offense. Detectives first arrested the Rev. Bartley A. Sorensen, 62, on Saturday after they said he admitted to using his computer in the church rectory to view at least 100 images of boys. Police studied the computer's hard drive and found several still-image files depicting prepubescent males either posed naked or engaged in sexual activity with other boys or with men. They also seized two spindles of CDs in the office. The new charges came after three of the CDs, examined by police on Monday, revealed more than 5,000 images of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint. A Monday search of the rectory also yielded at least two "commercially produced child pornographic movies" and 100 recordable disks containing several thousand images of young boys. Detectives said they also discovered books and printed photos containing child pornography, the complaint says. Father Sorensen was being held in the Allegheny County Jail on Tuesday on $100,000 bond, court records show. The investigation began Friday, when a church employee said she witnessed the pastor viewing the images on his computer and contacted the Catholic Child Abuse Hotline. Officials with the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh contacted police and removed Father Sorensen from active ministry. He has been placed on administrative leave.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.