No Jail Time For Former Henderson Priest

August 27, 2003

Dana Wagner Reporting

He admitted to abusing teenage boys in his parish, but a former Henderson priest isn't going to jail. And he won't go to Missouri for treatment either. That state says it won't take Mark Roberts because he would be living near one of his victims. Now Roberts is in legal limbo, and it's up to a judge to decide what to do with him.

The judge sentenced Roberts to three years probation in May, but he could have changed that sentence today. He could have sentenced Roberts to jail time. But he didn't. Roberts pleaded guilty to four counts of child abuse and one count of lewdness. He admitted that he subjected at least five teenage boys to strange sexual rituals as part of atonement for their "sins." The judge thinks three years of probation at a treatment center is the right

"He has the authority to put a man in prison and he doesn't." Friends of the victims in this case think Mark Roberts is getting off too easy. They want judge Donald Mosley to sentence the former priest to jail time. "He definitely should go to prison. Let him be told, let the rest of the priests and pedophiles be told that they're not going to mess around. They do it and continue to do it, because the legal

Prosecuting attorney Doug Herndon says the problem is, if Mark Roberts is sent to jail, he could spend 8 months or less behind bars. He says 3 years probation at a secure facility may be better. "If we can keep him in a facility for three years, where his freedom of movement is severely restricted and he can't leave the property without some sort of chaperone and he's getting therapeutic help, that's preferable to just putting him in the detention center for eight months and the case being o

Mark Roberts had nothing to say as he left the courthouse. He was flanked by two bailiffs for protection. A court spokesman says his armed escort had nothing to do with the murder of former priest John Geoghan over the weekend in a Massachusetts prison. "There's some angry people associated with this case. Also it's probably wise for the bailiff. That's their job to protect and serve inside the courtho

Roberts was sentenced to five years in jail, but it was suspended in lieu of probation. If he doesn't fulfill the terms of his probation, he could be sent to jail. Mark Roberts is scheduled to be back in court on October 1st. Parole and probation is expected to have a recommendation on a new treatment facility for him. Until then, the former priest remains on house arrest at an undisclosed location here in Las Vegas.