Jury urges 20-year sentence for priest

ST. LOUIS -- A St. Louis jury on Thursday recommended a 20-year prison sentence for the Rev. Thomas Graham, a Roman Catholic priest convicted of sexually abusing a teenage boy in the rectory of St. Louis' Old Cathedral in the 1970s.

Circuit Judge Angela Turner Quigless will formally sentence Graham on Oct. 6.

The jury deliberated about five hours before making its recommendation. Graham, 71, was convicted of sodomy on Wednesday.

It wasn't clear if Graham's lawyers would appeal. They had contended the statute of limitations had run out on the alleged crimes. But prosecutors cited a 1969 law that has no statute of limitations for "abominable and detestable crimes against nature."

David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said he was "very, very grateful" for the sentence recommendation.

"If he doesn't win an appeal or get out on bond, it means that kids are going to be a lot safer," Clohessy said. "I think it also means people are beginning to understand the serial, compulsive behavior of pedophiles can only be stopped by prison time."

Graham was indicted in 2002, accused of committing sodomy with the victim from 1975 to 1978. The victim testified that Graham took him to a bedroom in the rectory and performed oral sex on him on numerous occasions.

During the trial, Graham took the witness stand in his own defense. He denied the allegations, saying the victim was upset because they had a falling out over the man's homosexuality.

The St. Louis Archdiocese investigated the allegation in 1994 and said earlier this week that "based on available information, did not find it to be substantiated."

The archdiocese said in a statement Wednesday that "we pray for the individual who brought the complaint ... We pray also for Father Graham."

Graham still faces a civil suit filed by an Arizona man in St. Louis in mid-August claiming that Graham fondled him in the faculty lounge in St. Mary's Parish in Bridgeton in the fall of 1967 or 1968.