CALIFORNIA
Patch
A 78-year-old former Catholic priest from Leisure World who pleaded guilty to molesting an altar boy in the 1990s at St. John the Baptist Church in Costa Mesa, beginning when the victim was 9 years old, is scheduled to be sentenced today.
Denis Lyons, who left the priesthood in April 2004, is expected to be sentenced to a year in jail and five years probation. Orange County Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno, who accepted the plea agreement the defendant reached with prosecutors, is also expected to order Lyons to complete 400 hours of community service or pay a fine.
Lyons could have faced up to 14 years in prison had he gone to trial.
The trial has been delayed multiple times.
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