Priest will go to trial over child pornography charges

A Churchill priest facing possession of child pornography charges will head to trial after waiving his preliminary hearing Tuesday morning

The Rev. Bartley A. Sorenson, 62, faces four counts of felony possession.

He had been arrested twice in the past week after detectives discovered thousands of images on his computer and on CDs. They were tipped off when a woman called a child abuse hotline to report he was viewing the graphic images on his computer in the rectory of St. John Fisher Church in Churchill, where he was the pastor.

The Rev. Sorenson has since been placed on administrative leave. His bail was reduced to $100,000 non-monetary on Friday and he was released from the Allegheny County Jail on Monday, said his attorney Patrick Thomassey. He remains on electronic monitoring.

He faces a formal arraignment Feb. 17.



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/11354/1198157-100.stm#ixzz1h66gpPYx

Showing 1 comment

  • Moriah Balingit, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
    published this page in News Story of the Day 2011-12-20 11:36:00 -0600

SNAP Network is a GuideStar Gold Participant