Suspended priest sentenced to 20 years in child porn case

Houston Chronicle
February 17, 2016

http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Suspended-priest-sentenced-to-20-years-in-child-6837667.php

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A suspended suburban Philadelphia priest has been sentenced to 20 years in prison on a child pornography conviction.

Fifty-six-year-old Mark Haynes of West Chester pleaded guilty in June to using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual contact as well as to possession and distribution of child pornography and destroying or concealing evidence.

Prosecutors said that around 2010 Haynes posed as a 16-year-old girl named "Katie" on a teenage dating website, met minor girls online and requested that they take and send sexually explicit pictures.

Officials said he was vicar of Saints Simon & Jude parish in Westtown Township since September 2013 and served in seven other suburban Philadelphia parishes.

Prosecutors said the sentencing judge heard testimony Wednesday from victims dating back to 1985 through 1991.