Priest Pleads Guilty to Possessing Child Porn
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MISSOURI
A Roman Catholic priest pleaded guilty in St. Louis to federal child pornography possession charges after he was caught in an FBI investigation.
Father John P. Hess faces up to five years in prison when he is sentenced July 26. Hess, 56, was removed from Sacred Heart Catholic Church in suburban Florissant in March after the FBI seized his computer, which had been kept in a public area of the church rectory.
Federal prosecutor Ray Gruender said Hess became a suspect during a nationwide FBI probe called Operation Candyman, which focused on child pornography traded over the Internet.
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