Prisoner Coming Back to Oregon to Stand Trial for False Claims against Catholic Church

By Tom Hallman
The Oregonian
January 29, 2013

http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2013/01/prisoner_coming_back_to_oregon.html

A federal prisoner has been indicted for mail fraud in connection with what authorities describe as a five-year scheme to get money from the Catholic Church by falsely claiming he had been sexually abused by priests when he was a child nearly four decades ago.

Shamont Sapp, 49, finishing up a prison term in Pennsylvania for bank robbery, will appear in U.S District Court in Harrisburg, Pa. and then be sent to Portland to stand trial, said Stephen Peifer, assistant U.S. attorney for the District of Oregon.

"He will make his first court appearance there and then be turned over to Oregon," Peifer said.

A federal grand jury indictment accuses of Sapp of using the mail while a prisoner to "file, pursue and litigate the false claims in federal courts from 2005 through 2010."

In his claims, Sapp named priests in Arizona, Kentucky, Oregon and Washington who he said abused him.

The indictment said Sapp had not been assaulted or abused, and had not even been present in the locations he alleged in his complaints.

The false claims, the indictment noted, caused the dioceses, their representatives, several courts and other entities to expend money, time and other resources to investigate and resolve the claims, which were ultimately denied or dismissed.

If convicted of mail fraud, Sapp faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, as well as mandatory restitution for all damages incurred.