PENNSYLVANIA
CBS Philly
WESTTOWN TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) — A priest in Chester County is accused of possessing and distributing child pornography through a popular photo-sharing network.
Rev. Mark Haynes, a priest assigned to Saints Simon & Jude Parish in Westtown Township, has been charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of children for possessing and disseminating child pornography.
According to authorities, the investigation began when a Chester County detective received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an Instagram account was disseminating photographs, including child pornography.
Investigators said that two photographs of a female under 14-years-old were posted to the account. Police said one photograph was of the child posing nude. The other photograph was a close-up of the child’s vaginal area.
The e-mail account that was linked to the Instagram was eventually traced to the Saints Simon & Jude Parish rectory building, police said.
Investigators said a detective spoke to the church’s pastor, who identified Haynes as the user of the email address.
After a further investigation, authorities allege Haynes received and posted a multitude of other images of child pornography and had been exchanging lewd emails with a still-to-be-identified 14-year-old girl. Investigators said Haynes had been posing as a 16-year-old girl in the exchanges.
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.