A
federal grand jury indicted a Catholic priest in St. Louis on Wednesday
on child pornography charges involving Internet images of a boy under
the age of 18, in the latest sex accusation to rock the Church.
William
Vatterott, 36, was charged with possession of child pornography,
according to the indictment released by the U.S. attorney for the
Eastern District of Missouri. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in
prison and fines of up to $250,000, if convicted.
The
indictment is the latest in a series of abuse accusations to hit the
U.S. Catholic Church over the past two decades. The scandals have cost
the Church billions of dollars in settlements and driven prominent
dioceses into bankruptcy.
U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said the Archdiocese of St. Louis cooperated with the investigation.
The
archdiocese placed Vatterott on administrative leave in June 2011 when
it first learned of the allegations, according to a statement it issued
on Wednesday. Vatterott was also accused of an incident involving
underage drinking and inappropriate behavior, the archdiocese said at
the time.
Vatterott had served as pastor of St. Cecilia Parish since 2008, according to the archdiocese.
The
case comes after Kansas City priest Shawn Ratigan pleaded guilty last
August to producing child pornography. In September, Bishop Robert Finn
of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph was convicted of a misdemeanor
charge of failing to report suspected child abuse when he did not report
that Ratigan had the pornographic images.
Reporting by Kevin Murphy; Editing by Brendan O'Brien, Cynthia Johnston and Eric Beech
© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.
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