PENNSYLVANIA
The Times of Chester County
WESTTOWN — A parish priest was charged Friday with possession and dissemination of child pornography.
Mark Haynes, 55, a priest assigned to Saints Simon & Jude Parish in the township, according to Chester County District Attorney Tom Hogan. Haynes was charged with multiple counts of sexual abuse of children for possessing and disseminating child pornography.
“Every person who possesses child pornography is violating the rights and dignity of these young victims,” Hogan said in a statement. “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.”
Haynes lived at Saints Simon and Jude Rectory and served as Parochial Vicar for more than a year. He was ordained in Philadelphia on May 18, 1985. The defendant had been assigned by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia to serve in parishes located in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. Since 1985, the defendant has been assigned to eight different parishes, including: St. Ann, Phoenixville; Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Doylestown; St. John of the Cross, Roslyn; Our Lady of Good Counsel, Southampton; St. Pius X, Broomall; Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Morton; and Annunciation B.V.M., Havertown.
The investigation began, authorities said, when Chester County Detective Joe Walton received information from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (“NCMEC”) that an Instagram account linked to the immediate area was disseminating photographs including child pornography.
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