Bartley Sorensen, Child Porn Possession, Pittsburgh PA, 2023

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – In a stunning turn of events within the Catholic community, suspended priest Bartley Sorensen, 63, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison followed by five years of supervised release for his sordid possession of child pornographic material.

The disgraced cleric, once assigned to Saint John Fisher Parish in Churchill, Pa., faced the music after a parish employee’s quick thinking led to Sorensen’s downfall. On December 9, 2011, the employee noticed Sorensen viewing explicit images on his computer and reported it immediately to the Catholic Child Abuse Hotline.

Swift action followed, with search warrants executed at the rectory resulting in the seizure of over 100 CDs containing thousands of disturbing images. One particularly heinous image depicted a nude male child bound and bleeding from his genitals, an atrocity that sent shockwaves through the community.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller spearheaded the prosecution of Sorensen. U.S. Attorney David J. Hickton praised the efforts of the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, the Allegheny County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Churchill Police Department for their successful investigation.

This sentence comes as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched by the Department of Justice to combat child sexual exploitation. For more information on Project Safe Childhood, visit www.justice.gov/psc.