MASCOUTAH (IL)
Daily Mail
January 10, 2018
By Keith Griffith
– Gerald R. Hechenberger, 54, charged with child porn on Tuesday near St. Louis
– Catholic priest is associate pastor at three parishes in southern Illinois
– Dawn raid on rectory recovered porn of kids under 13 and meth, cops say
A Catholic priest faces charges of child pornography and possession of methamphetamine after an anonymous tipster alerted police.
Gerald R. Hechenberger, 54, was arrested after a dawn police raid Monday morning on the rectory of the Holy Childhood of Jesus parish in Mascoutah, Illinois, a town 30 miles east of St. Louis.
He is charged with eight counts each of possession and dissemination of porn depicting a child under 13, and one count of possessing meth under five grams.
Hechenberger is an associate pastor at Holy Childhood, as well as at nearby parishes St. Pancratius Parish in Fayetteville and St. Liborius Parish in St. Libory.
Detectives in the Belleville Police Department initiated the investigation into Hechenbacher several weeks ago after receiving an online tip through the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force reporting line.
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