Conviction Christian institutions & contexts Catholic Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA · 2012

United States: Edward Avery's guilty plea — the one Philadelphia conviction that stands

Record class

Core record

Evidence status

Convicted

Authority role

Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Organization

Archdiocese of Philadelphia

Spiritual nexus

An altar boy under parish clergy — the same nexus as the rest of the Philadelphia case set.

Evidence structure

Proceedings

2012-03-22 · guilty plea; conviction never disturbed

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Pennsylvania, USA. Edward Avery, a defrocked Philadelphia priest, pleaded guilty on 22 March 2012 — days before the archdiocese's landmark trial — to involuntary deviate sexual intercourse with an altar boy and conspiracy to endanger a child, receiving two-and-a-half to five years. In January 2013, called as a prosecution witness, he recanted under oath, saying he had pleaded to avoid dying in prison. He served his term; no court has vacated the plea.

Primary record

national newspaper court reporting plea report 'Defrocked Phila. priest pleads guilty to sex abuse just before trial', Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 Mar. 2012.: Contemporaneous report of the plea.
national newspaper court reporting disposition update Philadelphia Inquirer retrial coverage, 19 Feb. 2020.: Later coverage confirming the plea's status and the recantation context.

Related record