Pa. priest pleads not guilty in child porn case
mysanantonio.com
Published 08:30 a.m., Saturday, January 7, 2012
Sixty-two-year-old Rev. Bartley Sorensen of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill was released on $50,000 unsecured bond but confined to his home on electronic monitoring. He declined comment after his arraignment Friday in federal court in Pittsburgh on charges of receiving and possessing child pornography. Sorensen has been suspended by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh. Allegheny County authorities arrested him last month after a parish employee alleged that he had been viewing the material on his office computer, and images and videos were found in his home and office. Federal prosecutors say they anticipate that the state charges will be dropped. A spokesman for the district attorney declined comment.
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Pittsburgh Priest Denies Child Pornography Charges :Rev. Bartley Sorensen Arraigned
Huffington Post 06 January 2012
By Alexis Kunsak PITTSBURGH, Jan 6 (Reuters) – A Catholic priest pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal child pornography on suspicion of possessing thousands of images of young boys engaged in sex acts. Rev. Bartley Sorensen, 62, former pastor of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill near Pittsburgh, arrived at his arraignment in U.S. District Court wearing hand and leg shackles and in the custody of U.S. Marshals. He pleaded not guilty to two counts of receiving and possessing child pornography. He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted of receiving child pornography on a computer and up to 10 years behind bars for possession of child pornography. After swearing to Chief Magistrate Lisa Pupo Lenihan he would return for every court appearance or pay $50,000, Sorensen left court with orders to remain under house arrest and wear an electronic anklet. The judge also barred Sorensen from access to a computer and from any unsupervised contact with children. Sorensen was already charged in state court for child pornography when a federal grand jury indicted him earlier this week. An arrest affidavit said a female church worker saw him view an image on his computer of a boy, who appeared to be 5 to 10 years old and naked from the waist down, under the caption “Hottie Boys.” Subsequent police searches of Sorensen’s church office turned up 5,000 images, authorities said. “I still don’t understand the federal interest in this case,” said Sorensen’s lawyer Patrick Thomassey. “He was already arrested and processed by the state.” State charges against Sorensen have been dismissed, authorities said. Allegheny County police arrested Sorensen on December 10 and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh removed him from active ministry and placed him on administrative leave. He had been transferred to the post at St. John Fisher Church just three weeks before his arrest. (Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Daniel Trotta)