PHILADELPHIA— A priest was indicted last week for enticing minors to send him sexually explicit pictures as he posed as a 16-year-old girl named “Katie” on a teen dating website, officials announced Wednesday.
Mark Haynes, 56, of West Chester, PA, was indicted last week on charges of child exploitation, officials said.
Haynes, a former parochial Vicar, is charged with using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual conduct, transfer of obscene material to a minor, distribution of child pornography, possession of child pornography, and destruction or concealment of evidence.
According to court documents, around 2010, Haynes posed as a 16-year old girl named “Katie” on a teen dating website. As “Katie,” Haynes would meet minor girls online and allegedly request that they take and send sexually explicit pictures.
Haynes is also charged with distributing other images and videos of children being sexually assaulted over the Internet in 2014, again posing as “Katie.”
If convicted of all charges, Haynes faces from 10 years to life in prison.
The Philadelphia archdiocese called the charges “serious and disturbing” in a statement Friday. Besides being placed on leave, Haynes no longer lives at the parish rectory, according to published reports.
The statement said no allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have ever been lodged against the priest, and there were no prior indications he was involved with child pornography.
“The archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding this matter and remains fervently committed to preventing child abuse as well as protecting the children and young people entrusted to its care,” the statement read. “Child pornography is a scourge that must be eradicated.”
Haynes is presumed innocent until proven guilty.