Arguments in sex abuse trial of Philadelphia priest kick off

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Yahoo! News

By Dave Warner | Reuters

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) – Prosecutors on Monday laid out a case of what they described as vile sexual attacks on a child by a priest and a former teacher, opening a new chapter in the sexual abuse scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Reverend Charles Engelhardt, 66, and former teacher Bernard Shero, 49, are accused of involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with a child, endangering the welfare of a child and corruption of a minor, in Common Pleas Court in Philadelphia.

A third accused abuser, former priest Edward Avery, 71, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse and is serving a prison sentence of 2 1/2 to 5 years.

The district attorney’s office said if Engelhardt and Shero are convicted, the maximum sentence for Engelhardt would be 28 1/2 to 57 years in prison and for Shero 33 to 67 years

Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.