SAVANNAH (GA)
WSAV TV
June 25, 2019
Instead of guiding children in their faith, a Savannah priest sexually abused them.
Now, the man behind those crimes is dead. Wayland Brown died in a South Carolina prison on June 8.
Officials with the Department of Corrections call his death “expected” and said there was “no foul play” involved.
Brown admitted back in October of 2018 to sexually abusing two boys — Alan Ranta and Chris Templeton — back in the early 1980s when he was a priest in the Savannah Diocese and at St. James School.
He was brought to South Carolina early that year to face criminal charges. Because of the laws in Georgia, he could not be criminally prosecuted there.
But by bringing the boys across state lines, to various areas of Hardeeville where he molested them, prosecutors were able to file charges against him.
Brown pleaded guilty in a Beaufort County courtroom and was sentenced to 20 years behind bars. He only served a little more than 8 months.
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