Ex-binghamton Priest Avoids Prison for Child Porn

By Anthony Borrelli
Press & Sun-Bulletin
November 6, 2014

http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/public-safety/2014/11/06/binghamton-priest-sentenced-child-porn/18610051/

A former Binghamton-area priest will spend 10 years on probation after pleading guilty to six felony child pornography charges.

Robert Ours, 65, was sentenced Wednesday by Onondaga County Court Judge Joseph Fahey. Ours was a former teacher at Seton Catholic Central in Binghamton, but the charges were unrelated to his time there, according to the Syracuse Catholic Diocese.

Officials with the Syracuse diocese reported the child porn allegations against Ours to the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office earlier this year. When Ours pleaded guilty, prosecutors said, he admitted to having six illegal images of children under the age of 16 on his computer in August 2013.

Ours served at Seton from 1992 to 2011, when he left for personal reasons that were not related to the diocese’s Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People, according to Danielle Cummings, a spokeswoman for the Syracuse diocese.

In May, an Onondaga County grand jury indicted Ours for six felony counts of possession of a sexual performance by a child under 16. Each count was punishable by up to four years in state prison.

The guilty plea to all six counts of the indictment, as opposed to a plea agreement with prosecutors, meant the judge could determine Ours’ sentence. As a part of the conviction, Ours must register as a sex offender, in addition to his probation.

Ours’ defense lawyer, Emil Rossi of Syracuse, could not be reached for comment. Ours lives in the Tommy Coyne Residence for Priests in Syracuse. He left the ministry in 2012.

In October 2010, a local celebration marked the 30th anniversary of Ours’ ordination into the priesthood.

aborrelli@pressconnects.com