03.31.10
St Louis Adult Entertainment: St. Louis priest pleads guilty to child porn charge
A St. Louis priest on Wednesday pleaded guilty in federal court in St. Louis to a child pornography charge and admitted both possessing child porn and agreeing to pay for a sex with a 16-year-old girl.
Under the plea deal, Father James Grady, 58, now faces six years, eight months in federal prison, and will have to register as a sex offender upon his release. But prosecutors dropped two charges: attempting to obtain a minor for a commercial sex act and using interstate commerce to attempt to entice or coerce someone under 18 to engage in prostitution or sexual activity. Grady could have faced a minimum of 10 years in prison on those charges.
Grady’s lawyer declined to comment after the hearing.
Grady, then-pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Church in south St. Louis, was arrested July 29 during a sex sting run by the FBI and local police, after he agreed to pay for sex with a 16-year-old. Prosecutors and investigators said Grady was responding to an ad in the the “adult services” section of the Craigslist website.