PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
A 55-year-old Archdiocesan priest tried to entire a child into sex and distributed and possessed child pornography, according to a federal indictment.
Mark. D. Haynes, 55, most recently a vicar at Saints Simon and Jude in West Chester, was awaiting a trial in Chester County court scheduled for April on state charges of possession of child pornography when he was federally indicted last week.
According to the indictment, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children tipped off Chester County detectives that someone was posting child pornography online in April 2014 using a particular Internet protocol (IP) and the email account irishwit2@gmail.com. Investigators tracked the IP address to the Saints Simon and Jude Church in West Chester and interviewed Haynes, who admitted irishwit2@gmail.com was his email account. He also admitted viewing nude photos of high school-aged children, authorities said. He also told investigators that in 2010 he posed online as a 16-year-old girl and – via the Internet – convinced a 14-year-old girl to send him images of herself masturbating, according to the indictment. He also admitted sending the teen pornographic images, according to authorities.
Chester County detectives filed charges against Haynes in October, but he was released on $200,000 bail pending trial. However, after the federal indictment was filed, Haynes was arrested by the FBI and he is being held in federal prison.
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