EASTON (PA)
Express-Times
December 3, 2020
By Sarah Cassi
A former DeSales University priest and advisor to the royal family of Monaco is accused of possessing thousands of images of child pornography, including some described as the torture of very young children, according to federal authorities.
William McCandless, 56, of Wilmington, Delaware, was charged by indictment Thursday with three counts of child pornography offenses, U.S. Attorney William M. McSwain announced.
McCandless, who was previously assigned to DeSales University, appeared Thursday in federal court before Magistrate Court Judge Henry Perkin and was arraigned in the case.
McCandless was placed on house incarceration with electronic monitoring, and ordered to surrender his passport because he has frequently traveled overseas and has numerous contacts abroad, prosecutors said.
“McCandless’ alleged conduct here is extremely disturbing. It occurred not just overseas but continued while he crossed international borders, purporting to do the work of the Church,” McSwain said in a news release. “The innocent children in these images will have to deal with the impact of this alleged abuse for the rest of their lives. We can never make them fully whole again, but we can bring them some measure of justice by investigating and prosecuting the people who drive the demand for this abuse, no matter their affiliations.”
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