PENNSYLVANIA
The Daily Pennsylvanian
By Claire Cohen · January 24, 2013
Few Penn alumni would recognize the former disc jockey at Smokey Joe’s as he stood on the witness stand in a light blue prison shirt with “DOC” — for Department of Correction — written on the back in white letters.
Last Thursday, defrocked West Philadelphia Catholic priest Edward Avery recanted his guilty plea of sexually assaulting a young boy in 1999 when called to testify during the trial against Rev. Charles Engelhardt and Bernard Shero, charged for molesting the same victim as Avery. Avery pled guilty last March and was sentenced to two and a half to five years in prison.
From September 1978 to June 1984, Avery served as assistant pastor at St. Agatha-St. James Parish on 38th and Chestnut streets. Known also as the “Smiling Padre,” Avery doubled as a disc jockey for hire.
While working at St. Agatha-St. James Parish, Avery continued molesting an altar boy from his previous assignment at St. Philip Neri Church in East Greenville, known in court proceedings under the pseudonym “James.”
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