Former Chesco priest pleads guilty to child porn charges

PENNSYLVANIA
Pottstown Mercury

By Michael P. Rellahan, mrellahan@21st-centurymedia.com
POSTED: 06/08/15

PHILADELPHIA >> A former Catholic priest with ties to Chester and Delaware counties pleaded guilty Monday to criminal charges involving child pornography and other offenses involving sexual misconduct with children, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Rev. Mark Haynes, 56, of West Chester, pleaded guilty In U.S. District Court in Philadelphia to all counts contained in a superseding information filed by U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger charging child exploitation. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for Sept. 10. Haynes faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison with a maximum sentence of life, possible fines, and at least five years up to a lifetime of supervised release.

Haynes, a former parochial vicar at a number of churches in the Delaware Valley, pleaded guilty to using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct, transfer of obscene material to a minor, distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and destruction or concealment of evidence.

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