Priest Convicted of Abusing Boy in 70s Files Appeal

WDRB
June 12, 2014

http://www.wdrb.com/story/25762175/priest-convicted-of-abusing-boy-in-70s-files-appeal

A Louisville priest convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy in the 1970s is asking a judge to set him free while he waits for the outcome of an appeal.

In April, a jury convicted James Schook of three counts of sodomy and one count of indecent and immoral behavior.

A judge sentenced Schook to 15 years in prison.

Schook's attorney filed the appeal this week. He asks for a reversal of the conviction and possibly a new trial based on questions of which state statutes were relevant to the prosecution -- those in effect at the time of the offenses, modern day statutes or both.

The request to stay out of prison during the appeals process is based on Schook's argument that he is terminally ill, unlikely to commit any crimes and unlikely to flee the jurisdiction.

A date for a hearing before the state court of appeals has not been set.