Ex-Boise Priest Pleads Guilty to Child Porn Charges
BOISE, Idaho (AP) — A former Boise Catholic priest has pleaded guilty to child pornography charges as part of a plea deal.
News outlets report William Thomas Faucher pleaded guilty to five of the 24 charges against him, including distribution of sexually exploitative material, possession of sexually exploitative materials and drug possession.
The other charges were dismissed.
The Idaho Statesman reports Faucher, who will be 73 next month, told the court he sent an email that contained child pornography while in alcohol-induced depression and while being affected by dementia.
Prosecutors say it wasn't one drunken mistake and that more than 2,000 photos and videos depicting child sexual abuse were found on Faucher's computer and phone.
Faucher remains jailed on $1 million bail.
He's scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 20.
"At a certain time, someone sent me a large amount of images of child porn," he told the court. "I can remember at some point opening some of those . and those are two of the ones I acknowledge I opened and looked at, not for very long."
Mark Manweiler, Faucher's defense attorney, argued before the court that the former priest's $1 million bond was "ridiculous" and should be lowered to $250,000 because he's not a flight risk(and surrendered his passport.
Kassandra Slaven, Ada County deputy prosecutor, asked 4th District Judge Jason Scott to keep Faucher's bond the same — especially since he pleaded guilty. She said there are aggravating facts that warrant the high bond amount. His conduct in this case was long-standing, alarming and egregious, she said.