PENNSYLVANIA
The Morning Call
Laurie Mason Schroeder, Matt Coughlin and Pamela Lehman
Of The Morning Call
DA: Pastor of St. Ann’s in Emmaus downloaded child porn for ‘sexual gratification’
EMMAUS — The pastor of St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Emmaus is charged with possession of child pornography which he downloaded “for his own sexual gratification, the Lehigh County district attorney said Tuesday morning at a news conference detailing the investigation of Monsignor John Stephen Mraz.
Mraz, a 66-year-old monsignor, is charged by county detectives with one felony count of possession of child pornography, one felony count of criminal use of a communication facility and a misdemeanor count of selling obscene materials. The charges list July 25 as the date of the offenses.
Parishioners said Mraz has been out about a month from St. Ann’s Church with what officials said were “medical issues” and they had been asked at weekly Masses to say prayers for his recovery.
“[Mraz] searched for and downloaded the images of child pornography and did so for his own sexual gratification,” District Attorney Jim Martin said at a 10:30 a.m. news conference.
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.