Priest found guilty on sex charge in Canada

OHIO/CANADA
The Columbus Dispatch

By JoAnne Viviano
The Columbus Dispatch
Tuesday February 26, 2013

A Roman Catholic priest who once worked in central Ohio has been convicted in British Columbia, Canada, of sexually touching a person between the ages of 14 and 18.

The Rev. Philip Jacobs was found guilty yesterday. He was acquitted on one count of sexual assault and two counts of sexually touching a person younger than 14.

The Saanich News reported trial testimony that Jacobs ran his hand up and down the pants-clad leg of a boy he was tutoring at St. Joseph the Worker School in Saanich. The boy testified that he lay on a couch in the priest’s home with his legs over Jacobs’ lap and Jacobs’ hand touched his genitals, according to the newspaper.

Jacobs maintains that he unintentionally brushed the boy’s groin, his attorney, Chris Considine, said.

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