PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
By John P. Martin
INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
One of the Philadelphia area priests charged with sexually abusing altar boys in the 1990s on Wednesday lost a bid to have his case heard separately.
After a brief hearing on the matter, Common Pleas Court Judge M. Teresa Sarmina said the Rev. Charles Engelhardt will be tried with three other priests accused of child-sex assault or conspiring to enable the alleged abuse, the judge’s office said.
Through his lawyer, Michael J. McGovern, Engelhardt had argued that it was unfair to try him with the others because he belongs to an independent religious order, the Oblates of St. Francis DeSales, while his co-defendants are priests supervised by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
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