Suspended Pa. priest gets 8-year prison sentence for possessing child porn

(AP) PITTSBURGH - A suspended Pittsburgh-area priest will serve more than eight years in prison for collecting thousands of images of child pornography on his computer, in books and on compact discs.

The sentence that Rev. Bartley Sorensen received Wednesday was more than the five-year mandatory minimum he sought but less than the 10-year maximum he faced.

The 63-year-old Roman Catholic priest was arrested by Allegheny County authorities in December 2011 after an employee at St. John Fisher Parish in Churchill noticed him looking at a photo of a pantsless young boy on his computer.

Federal officials took over the investigation after a computer search turned up thousands of child pornography images, some of them sadomasochistic.

Sorensen pleaded guilty in May. At his sentencing, he expressed remorse to everyone but the young boys depicted in the pornography.