Former Doylestown Priest Faces Child Porn Charges

By Alison Smith:

A Catholic priest who previously served at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in Doylestown has been arrested and charged with possessing and disseminating child pornography, the Chester County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Mark Haynes, who was assigned to the Saints Simon and Jude Parish in West Chester, faces multiple felony counts of sexual abuse of children for the possession and dissemination of child pornography, Chester County District Attorney Thomas P. Hogan said.

“Every person who possesses child pornography is violating the rights and dignity of these young victims. Every person who disseminates child pornography is continuing the cycle of depravity that makes children around the world vulnerable,” Hogan said. “No matter whether you are rich or poor, young or old, clergy or layperson, the possession of child pornography will lead to arrest, shame, and jail.”

The Archdiocese of Philadelphia said that Haynes has been placed on administrative leave.

“These charges are serious and disturbing,” The Archdiocese said in a statement. “The Archdiocese is cooperating fully with law enforcement regarding this matter and remains fervently committed to preventing child abuse as well as protecting the children and young people entrusted to its care. Child pornography is a scourge that must be eradicated.”

Since his ordination in 1985, Haynes has served at multiple parishes in Bucks, Chester, Delaware and Montgomery counties, including:

• St. Ann, Phoenixville;
• Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, Doylestown;
• St. John of the Cross, Roslyn;
• Our Lady of Good Counsel, Southampton;
• St. Pius X, Broomall;
• Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Morton;
• and Annunciation B.V.M., Havertown.

“This investigation is ongoing. Given the number of parishes to which the defendant was assigned and his close proximity to children, we are concerned that other victims are out there,” Hogan said. “Anybody with information should come forward immediately.”

Haynes has been Parochial Vicar at Saints Simon and Jude since Sept. 3, 2013, the District Attorney’s Office said.

“There were no prior indications that Father Haynes was involved in activity of this nature,” the Archdiocese said. “Additionally, no allegations of sexual abuse of a minor have ever been lodged against him.”

According to information from the District Attorney’s Office, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children contacted Chester County Detective Joe Walton about an Instagram account that was sharing child pornography.

The account had shared two photos of a female under the age of 14, the District Attorney’s Office said. One was of the child posing nude, and one was a close-up image of the child’s genitals.

An e-mail address associated with the Instagram account was traced to Saints Simon and Jude, where the rector identified the e-mail address as Haynes’, the District Attorney’s Office said.

“Detective Walton also discovered that the defendant had received and posted a multitude of other images of child pornography and had been exchanging lewd emails with a still-to-be-identified 14-year-old girl,” the District Attorney’s Office said. “The defendant had been posing as a 16-year-old girl in these exchanges.”

Haynes was lodged in Chester County Prison after failing to post $200,000 bail.

Anybody with information about this case is asked to call Chester County Detective Joseph Walton at 610-344-4625.