West Chester Priest Facing Trial in Chester Now Indicted by Feds

Morning Call
February 27, 2015

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-c-feds-indict-west-chester-priest-20150227-story.html

Mark Haynes, formerly a priest at Saints Simon and Jude Church in West Chester faces federal child porn charges in addition to prior Chester County charges following his indictment last week. (Chester County District Attorney's, Special to the Morning Call)

A 55-year-old Archdiocesan priest tried to entire a child into sex and distributed and possessed child pornography, according to a federal indictment.

Mark. D. Haynes, 55, most recently a vicar at Saints Simon and Jude in West Chester, was awaiting a trial in Chester County court scheduled for April on state charges of possession of child pornography when he was federally indicted last week.

According to the indictment, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off Chester County detectives that someone was posting child pornography online in April 2014 using a particular Internet protocol (IP) and the email account irishwit2@gmail.com. Investigators tracked the IP address to the Saints Simon and Jude Church in West Chester and interviewed Haynes, who admitted irishwit2@gmail.com was his email account. He also admitted viewing nude photos of high school-aged children, authorities said. He also told investigators that in 2010 he posed online as a 16-year-old girl and – via the Internet – convinced a 14-year-old girl to send him images of herself masturbating, according to the indictment. He also admitted sending the teen pornographic images, according to authorities.

Chester County detectives filed charges against Haynes in October, but he was released on $200,000 bail pending trial. However, after the federal indictment was filed, Haynes was arrested by the FBI and he is being held in federal prison.

According to a statement from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia issued after Haynes October arrest, he was placed on administrative leave. He has previously held numerous posts including at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Doylestown from 1989 through 1991. His other posts include Saint Ann in Phoenixville from 1985 to 1989, Archbishop Wood High School from 1990 to 1991, the Office for Youth and Young Adults from 1990 to 1992, Saint John of the Cross in Roslyn from 1991 to 1994, Our Lady of Good Counsel in Southampton from 1994 to 2000, Saint Pius X in Broomall from 2001 to 2005, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Morton from 2005 to 2009, Annunciation B.V.M. in Havertown from 2009 to 2013 and Saints Simon and Jude in West Chester from 2013 to 2014.