Philadelphia Priest and Lay Teacher Convicted on Most Counts in Child Sex Abuse Trial

January 30, 2013 3:39 PM


(Phila. PD photos)

Reporting Tony Hanson

By Tony Hanson

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) –A Philadelphia jury today returned “guilty” verdicts on most counts against a former priest and a former lay teacher in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Father Charles Engelhardt and lay teacher Bernard Shero were charged with sexually molesting the same boy in 1999 and 2000 (see related stories).

Earlier this afternoon, the jury told the judge that it was deadlocked on one of the charges but had reached a decision on all the others.

The judge, not willing to let the jury declare itself hung on that one remaining charge, sent the panel back to continue its deliberations.

But about an hour later, the jury announced that it was unable to reach a unanimous decisions on the one remaining charge against Engelhardt. The judge accepted their verdict on all the other charges and ordered both men, who had been free during the trial, taken into custody pending sentencing at a future date.

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