Subject: And Yet Again
A retired priest has been sentenced to five years in prison after it was discovered he had made slideshow presentations containing thousands of images of child pornography. The 72-year-old's arsenal of abusive material was discovered after he left nude images of himself on a church printer, officials said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office of the Eastern District of Missouri said on Tuesday that Vincentian priest James T. Beighlie of St. Louis, Missouri, had 6,000 pictures containing child sexual abuse material on a computer, including child pornography and images of child erotica....


But instead of frying this guy, the church is sticking up for him. Because he only needed to pray more:

Prior to this week's sentencing, McDevitt asked the presiding judge for "mercy for Jim," and even offered for the congregation to pay to house him in lieu of imprisonment.

"I am asking that you spare him incarceration and, instead, allow him to reside at [Vianney Renewal Center]," he wrote in a letter to the judge dated Dec. 21. "If he is allowed to remain at VRC, I will see to it that he is never transferred from the facility, unless his health deteriorates and hospitalization is needed. His care/residency will be paid for by my congregation."

"What Jim has done is wrong and criminal," he said. "After Jim was moved to Perryville, he started engaging in prayer, he eats meals with his confreres, and he is an active participant in community life. If only he had been involved like this years before, I truly believe he would not be in the situation that he is in."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/j...