PENNSYLVANIA
Daily Times
By Michael P. Rellahan, mrellahan@dailylocal.com, @ChescoCourt
POSTED: 02/25/15
PHILADELPHIA >> The FBI has arrested and charged the former SS. Simon and Jude parish priest who was accused last year by local authorities of sending and receiving child pornography on a popular social media site, on which he pretend to be a 16-year-old girl.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Philadelphia said Tuesday that charges had been brought against Mark Haynes, 55, of Egg Harbor, N.J., on Friday. He was detained on Monday pending a bail hearing in federal court next Tuesday. Haynes previously served parishes in Delaware County. Haynes served at St. Pius X parish in Marple from 2001 to 2005, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in the Morton section of Ridley Township from 2005 to 2009, and at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the Havertown section of Haverford from 2009 to 2013.
Haynes face charges of enticement of a minor to engage in sexual activity, distribution of child pornography, and possession of child pornography. The federal complaint against Haynes adopts much of what was laid out by Chester County authorities when they charged him last October with similar crimes.
The investigation began when county detectives received a tip about pornographic images that were being posted from an Instagram account in the name of “Katie.” They tracked that to a computer that was registered to a Simon and Jude email account, officials said.
When Haynes was confronted by detectives in October, he confessed to having child pornography on his computer, and of sending out images to others. He also stated that he had in early 2010 communicated with a young girl by using the name “Katie Caponetti,” and that he and the girl discussed sexual matters over the Internet.
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