Priest and Schoolteacher Found Guilty in Sex Abuse Case

After nine days of testimony and 20 hours of deliberation, a jury has convicted schoolteacher Bernard Shero and Reverand Charles Englehart each on multiple charges, stemming from their sexual abuse of a ten year-old altar boy in 1998 and 1999. The Philadelphia D.A. has already put another man, the defrocked priest William Avery, behind bars for charges stemming from the same case.

The defense “tried to victimize and demonize the victim,” D.A. Seth Williams said after the jury delivered its verdict. “I’m very thankful that the jury listened and did what they did to hold these two men accountable and responsible for the heinous crime they committed.” Shero, 49, was found guilty of rape, child endangerment, corruption of a minor, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and indecent assault. Englehart, 66, was found guilty of child endangerment, corruption of a minor, indecent assault, and conspiracy. [Inquirer]