Former priest in Baltimore County found guilty of sexually abusing 10-year-old student
A former Catholic priest was found guilty on Thursday of sexually abusing a student at a Catonsville Catholic school in the 1990s.
William Mannion Jr. was accused of abusing the student, who was 10 years old when the offenses occurred, the Baltimore County State's Attorney's Office confirmed to CBS News Baltimore.
Mannion was found guilty of one count of child sex abuse and four counts of second-degree sex offense.
A sentencing has been scheduled for Dec. 14.
A jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about an hour before breaking for lunch and later notified Judge Dennis Robinson Jr. that they had reached a verdict, our media partner, the Baltimore Banner, reported. Mannion -- who had been on home detention since his arrest last year -- was handcuffed and taken into custody.
"You know I didn't do this," Mannion, 64, told his wife, who was seated in the gallery, the Banner reported.
Prosecutors said the crimes happened between 1991 and 1995. Police started investigating the sexual abuse allegations in October 2023, when a victim reported the abuse.
According to charging documents, a man told his therapist that Mannion abused him starting when he was in second grade and continuing through fourth grade at St. Agnes School. The victim alleges that Mannion would pull him out of class and take him to the monastery where the abuse would happen, and that the priest would play Christian rock music and use puppets.
Detectives believe there may be more victims of Mannion's abuse and urge them to come forward, according to police.
The Archdiocese of Baltimore said Mannion left the priesthood in the late 1990s, after requesting to be formally removed from the clerical state for reasons unrelated to the alleged abuse.
