Priest Gets Probation for Child Porn Conviction

A Catholic priest who was convicted on child pornography charges after authorities found more than 100 images on his computer, received a sentence of two years probation after the prosecutor in the Virginia case, a former parishioner, failed to make a sentence recommendation to the judge.

Judge Herman Whisenant sentenced Robert Brooks, 73, to two years of probation and a three-year suspended prison sentence when Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney Jim Plowman made no recommendation to the judge on sentencing.

Plowman told reporters he was satisfied with the judge's sentence and saw no reason to make a recommendation on sentencing. "Judges do what they want to do anyway," he said.

Mark Serrano, of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said he was disappointed in the sentence and in prosecutors' office. "The only way children will be safe from Father Brooks is if he is behind bars," Serrano said.

See Also:
How to Report Child Pornography

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