Catholic priest sentenced for sexually abusing Michigan boys in 1980s: ‘His crime and position was a murder on my soul’

MICHIGAN
New York Daily News

BY MEG WAGNER NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Saturday, April 30, 2016

A Catholic priest is facing up to 40 years behind bars for sexually abusing Michigan high school boys three decades ago — and six of his victims confronted him in the courtroom before he was hauled off to prison.

James Rapp — a 75-year-old former priest who taught at Jackson Lumen Christi High School in south central Michigan in the 1980s — pleaded no contest to criminal sexual conduct for raping and molesting his students.

“His crime and position was a murder on my soul,” victim Andy Russell said in court Friday, according to the Citizen Patriot. “He’s a monster and his path of destruction extends far further than it ever should have.”

Rapp is already serving a 40-year prison sentence for lewd molestation in Oklahoma, where he worked after he left Michigan.

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