Catholic priest receives sentence

ST. LOUIS -- A Roman Catholic priest from suburban St. Louis was sentenced Monday to 90 days in a halfway house, placed on probation for five years and fined $5,000 for receiving obscenity through his computer.

U.S. District Judge Richard Kyle's ruling bars the Rev. John Hess from any work with children under age 18. Hess, 57, also must register as a sex offender, cannot possess obscene or stimulating material, and cannot have a computer or Internet service without his probation officer's approval.

Hess's arrest was one of dozens initiated by federal agents as part of the nationwide "Operation Candyman" investigation, which focused on a computer-based child pornography ring.

In an affidavit to obtain the warrant used to search computers, an undercover agent said anyone who signed up on an Internet site received child pornography e-mail, but that turned out not to be the case, according to Gruender's office. In fact, it appears people had the option to choose whether or not they wanted the pornography coming to them through e-mail.

That has led to concerns about probable cause in some, but not all, of the "Candyman" cases.

"Each case has to rise and fall on its own facts," Gruender said Monday.

Gruender said one of the five people charged in his district, Gregory L. Strauser, 51, of St. Louis has filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea. "We intend to contest that," Gruender said.

Caught by'Candyman'

"Operation Candyman," which began in January 2001, targeted members of three Internet discussion groups on Yahoo! Inc.'s Web site, including one called "Candyman." The investigation determined there were an estimated 7,000 members of the e-mail group, which has been shut down.

In Hess's case, a computer was seized during an FBI raid in March at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Florissant, where he was pastor. He has since been removed from the parish.

Federal prosecutors said the computer contained hundreds of images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Hess's lawyer Richard Sindel said Hess thanked those who had supported him throughout the process Monday and was contrite. "In court, he certainly expressed a great deal of remorse," Sindel said.

Florissant police said the pastor's computer was in a public area of Sacred Heart's rectory. Many volunteers and people attending meetings had access, parishioners said.

The red brick Sacred Heart church, founded by a mostly German-speaking congregation in 1866, sits on a hilltop in north St. Louis County. It includes a school and day-care center.