Independent voices from the TWT Communities
Exceeding sentencing guidelines, a judge on Wednesday handed down prison terms of at least six years to a Roman Catholic priest and a former teacher in a sex-abuse case that brought down a Philadelphia church official.
A jury on Wednesday convicted a priest and teacher in a pivotal church-abuse case that rocked the Philadelphia archdiocese and sent a church official to prison for child endangerment.
A troubled policeman's son who accuses two Roman Catholic priests and a teacher of raping him during boyhood is set to testify at a Philadelphia trial this week — and have his startling claims challenged for the first time.
"I've accepted this injustice, and I will continue to do so until it is righted because I believe it will be righted," said Engelhardt, who has lost 50 pounds since the accusation surfaced in 2009. "I had no interaction with (the accuser) in any way."
Engelhardt said he does not remember the accuser, who testified that he started smoking marijuana at age 11 and has been through 23 rehabilitation attempts and several stints in jail.
