PENNSYLVANIA
Main Line
By Michael N. Price
mprice@21st-centurymedia.com
Westtown >> A Ss. Simon and Jude Parish priest was arrested on Friday amid allegations that he disseminated child pornography on a popular social media site, according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.
Mark Haynes, 55, was charged with sexual abuse of children and related charges after investigators traced images of child pornography that were posted with an Instagram account that was registered to a Simon and Jude email account, officials said. Haynes has served as the parish’s Parochial Vicar since last September. The Archdiocese of Philadelphia has assigned Haynes to parishes in Chester, Bucks, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. He was ordained in 1985.
Law enforcement officials announced the arrest and said the possession of child pornography would not be tolerated.
“Every person who possesses child pornography is violating the rights and dignity of these young victims. Every person who disseminates child pornography is continuing the cycle of depravity that makes children around the world vulnerable. No matter whether you are rich or poor, young or old, clergy or layperson, the possession of child pornography will lead to arrest, shame, and jail,” said Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan.
Since his ordainment in 1985, Haynes has been assigned to eight different parishes, including: St. Ann, in Phoenixville; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, in Doylestown; St. John of the Cross, in Roslyn; Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Southampton; St. Pius X, in Broomall; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, in Morton; and Annunciation B.V.M., in Havertown.
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