PENNSYLVANIA
The Mercury
By Lucas Rodgers, lrodgers@21st-centurymedia.com, @LucasMRodgers on Twitter
POSTED: 02/17/16
PHILADELPHIA >> A former priest with ties to Montgomery and Chester counties was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years in federal prison for child sexual abuse and exploitation.
Mark Haynes, 56, of West Chester ,was a parochial vicar at Sts. Simon and Jude Parish in Westtown for about a year, until the time of his arrest, in February 2015.
Haynes pleaded guilty on June 8, 2015 to using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct, transfer of obscene material to a minor, distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and destruction or concealment of evidence.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge R. Barclay Surrick ordered 10 years of supervised release, a fine of $15,000, and a $700 special assessment.
Around 2010, Haynes posed as a 15-year old girl named “Katie” on a teen pen pal site on Instagram. As “Katie,” Haynes would meet young teenage girls online, engage in sexual chats, and send them child pornography photos and videos in an attempt to entice them to take and send sexually explicit pictures of themselves. Haynes is also charged with distributing other images and videos of children being sexually assaulted over the Internet in 2014.
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