PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Inquirer
JOSEPH A. SLOBODZIAN, INQUIRER STAFF WRITER
POSTED: Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Even as they professed their innocence, a Catholic priest and an ex-parochial schoolteacher got long prison terms Wednesday in the serial sexual assault of a 10-year-old altar boy in the late 1990s.
Common Pleas Court Judge Ellen Ceisler exceeded sentencing guidelines in handing out punishment to the Rev. Charles Engelhardt, 66 and Bernard Shero, 50, saying their crimes called for long terms. She sentenced Engelhardt to six to 12 years in prison and Shero to eight to 16.
The sentences stunned the stand-room-only crowd that filled her courtroom.
Engelhardt’s frown grew longer as it became clear that Ceisler would not impose probation – served in a Maryland home for old, ailing priests – as urged by lawyer Michael McGovern.
Shero, who knew he faced a mandatory minimum five-year term, stood in shock, and lawyer Burton A. Rose put a hand on his arm to steady him.
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