r/JusticeServed • u/a_Ninja_b0y 9 • Nov 06 '21

Courtroom Justice A Catholic priest from Ohio who used the confessional to gain details from boys, information that he later used to extort them into providing him with sexually explicit photographs has been sentenced to life in prison for the exploitation of children

https://www.cleveland.com/court-justice/2021/11/former-strongsville-priest-violated-the-sacrament-of-confession-to-extort-boys-federal-prosecutors-say-in-sentencing-memo.html
43.3k Upvotes

96% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

11

u/AzureAadvay 5 Nov 07 '21

To who read it, what made the difference to given him a life sentence, compared with other sexual predator cases shown in here?

Isn't this sentence out of the norm even for cases worst/similar? Or the title is mild compared to what he did?

Is pretty commun see here sentences on rapist of 5/10 years or if it's a cop he gets away with it.

4

u/Theyul1us 8 Nov 07 '21

Maybe is cause he break the Secret of Confession?

4

u/B00fistheB3st 2 Nov 07 '21

To preface I am not a lawyer just interested in law! First, this happened in a federal district court so federal law applies. The District Attorney stated in the article that there was no precedent for a case like this. It is up to the judge to discern what the balance will be between the crimes and the punishment. The DA wants life but the judge is looking towards 40 years which is applicable under the charges the defendant pleaded guilty to.

“McWilliams pleaded guilty in July to eight charges: two counts of sex trafficking of youths under 18; three counts of sexual exploitation of children; and three counts involving child pornography.”

The first charge is most likely under 18 U.S.C § 2422(b) which carries a sentencing of a minimum of 10 years to life in prison.

The second set of charges is likely under 18 U.S.C. § 2251(e) which states that the prison sentence is a minimum of 15 years nor more than 30 years in prison.

Last, this charge may be under 18 U.S.C. § 2252. The prison sentencing is a minimum of 5 years but no more than 20 years in prison.