PHILADELPHIA (PA)
Philadelphia Daily News
MENSAH M. DEAN, Daily News Staff Writer deanm@phillynews.com, 215-568-8278
Posted: Friday, January 18, 2013
A DEFROCKED Catholic priest who pleaded guilty last year to sexually assaulting an altar boy recanted his guilty plea on the witness stand Wednesday, dealing a blow to prosecutors making a case against two other men on trial for allegedly molesting the same boy.
Defrocked priest Edward Avery, 70, who is serving a 2 1/2-to-5-year state prison sentence, denied touching or even knowing the victim. Avery had been expected to buttress the prosecution’s case against Rev. Charles Engelhardt, 66, and ex-teacher Bernard Shero, 49, who are being tried in Common Pleas Court for allegedly raping a St. Jerome Parish altar boy in 1998 and 2000, respectively.
Although Avery pleaded guilty to assaulting the boy before his own trial began, and prosecutors have evidence that he assaulted other young men, Avery claimed innocence Thursday.
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