BishopAccountability.org
	Local Catholic Deacon Pleads Guilty to Possession of Child Porn By Hailie Brook KBCI [Boise ID] February 28, 2005 A deacon with a local Catholic Church is headed to prison. Last fall, Deacon Robert "Rap" Howell was charged with possession of internet child pornography. In November, the Deacon pleaded guilty to the crime but many parishioners at St. Mary's Parish are angry because their priest just told about the conviction during last Sunday's sermon. The former deacon will spend the next 18 months behind bars in federal prison. Meanwhile parishioners wonder why his guilty plea was withheld from them for so long. The case against Deacon Howell began last May after his former employer discovered child porn on the Deacon's computer. "The age range here I believe involved children between the ages of nine and 13," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Wendy Olson. Olson prosecuted the case against Howell. She said the F.B.I. proved eight of the explicit images on the former Deacon's computer illegally involved children. "There were a number of other images suspected but they weren't able to be definitely pinned down as items of child pornography," said Olson. According to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Idaho, Howell resigned from active ministry a month before admitting his guilt in November. "So he hasn't been serving in that parish since October," said Colette Cowman. But at least one parishioner told Local 2 News the Deacon was still giving sermons in February of this year. "To our knowledge he has been on a leave of absence and has not been serving at the parish since October," said Cowman. Even so, as of Monday night the Deacon's picture could still be found on the Idaho Diocese's official website. Local 2 News spoke with several parishioners who wished to remain anonymous but said they were very upset with the way the church has handled the case and wondered why they were just told about the Deacon's conviction on Sunday. "We didn't tell them back in November when he plead guilty because it wasn't really a crime that had to do with the church," said Cowman. But some parishioners argue even if the crime didn't happen at the church, the Deacon's duties involved dealing with families and children. "I think that's definitely a concern," said Cowman, "but again, the crime didn't happen in the parish community and it didn't happen in the church community at all." Nationally the Catholic Church has been criticized for secrecy surrounding pedophiles within the clergy. Idaho's Bishop Michael Driscoll plans to make an official statement about this case to St. Mary's Parishioners next Sunday. Local 2 News obtained a copy, which reads in part... "While I understand this is a difficult time for deacon Howell and his family, I also understand the pain that the people of St. Mary's may experience..." Some of whom said they're puzzled as to why they just found out about a guilty plea that happened more than three months ago. Local 2 News contacted Deacon Howell Monday night. He had "no comment."
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