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Father Charles Engelhardt

Philadelphia priest, former teacher both convicted of child sex abuse

By  Catholic News Service
  • February 2, 2013

PHILADELPHIA - A suspended priest and a former Catholic school teacher in Philadelphia were convicted Jan. 30 on several charges related to the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old altar boy that took place from 1998 to 2000.

The jury deliberated for about 20 hours over a four-day period, after listening to several days of testimony in a trial that began Jan. 14.

Father Charles Engelhardt, 66, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, and a priest for more than 40 years, was found guilty of child endangerment, corruption of a minor, indecent assault and conspiracy. The jury was deadlocked on one count of involuntary deviant sexual intercourse.
The priest was assigned to St. Jerome Parish in Philadelphia when the abuse occurred.

Bernard Shero, 49, a former teacher at St. Jerome School in Philadelphia, was found guilty of all charges against him: rape, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse, child endangerment, corruption of a minor and indecent assault, according to The Associated Press.

Shero and Father Engelhardt were to remain in protective custody until April 18, when they are scheduled to receive their sentences. Shero faces a maximum of 57 years in prison and Father Engelhardt, a maximum of 37 years.

The two were among five defendants named in a February 2011 grand jury report and presentment that was released following an investigation into allegations that two priests and a teacher sexually abused a 10-year-old boy at St. Jerome Parish in Philadelphia, and that another priest assigned to St. Jerome sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy.

The presentment recommended criminal charges be brought against Father Engelhardt and Shero; Edward V. Avery, a former Philadelphia archdiocesan priest laicized in 2006; and Father James J. Brennan, 47, of Linfield, who is an archdiocesan priest. All four were arrested that February.

The investigation revealed the allegations by "Billy Doe," a now-24-year-old man who accused Father Engelhardt, Shero and Avery serially raping and abusing him and passing the young boy around to each other.

The grand jury also recommended charging Msgr. William J. Lynn, former secretary for clergy for the Philadelphia Archdiocese, with child endangerment for allowing then-Father Avery to move to the accuser's parish despite a complaint of sexual abuse against him.

Last June, Msgr. Lynn was found guilty of one felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child and sentenced to three to six years in state prison. He is the first high-ranking clergyman in the United States to be convicted for failing to deal with the abuse scandal in the church. He is appealing his conviction.

Father Brennan awaits a retrial in the spring after his case ended in a hung jury in June.

Avery pleaded guilty in 2012 of abusing the altar boy in 1999 and began serving his sentence of two-and-a half to five years in prison. But during the trial of Father Engelhardt and Shero, Avery took the stand and testified that he had issued a false guilty plea the previous year. He said he never abused the boy and that he only said he did so to avoid a longer sentence.

Avery could be charged with perjury as a result of recanting his earlier sworn testimony, in which case a successful prosecution would result in jail time in addition to the sentence he is now serving.

"Billy Doe" took the stand during the trial of Father Engelhardt and Shero and said their abuse set him on a set him on a downward spiral that led to drug use, expulsion from high schools, and suicide attempts.

Defense lawyers argued that the accuser was simply hoping for a payout from his pending civil suit and said his accusations were not consistent.

 

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