Friday, May 30, 2003 | 12:02 p.m.
Saying he took full responsibility for "the pain and suffering I've caused," former priest Mark Roberts this morning was sentenced to three years' probation for the molestation of five teens who attended St. Peter's Catholic Church in Henderson, where he was pastor.
Reading a statement from a yellow legal pad before District Judge Donald Mosley, Roberts apologized at length to his victims as well as the Diocese of Las Vegas and his own family.
"These young men were innocent victims," Roberts said in a steady voice. "In a sick way I thought I was helping them."
Statements from victims underscored the pain and suffering Roberts referred to.
"Every time I drive by a church, I want to turn the wheel and drive right through it," one victim said in a letter to the court read by prosecutor Lisa Luzaich. "I was mentally raped by a sick and demented shell of a man, and the worst part is Mark Roberts may not even go to jail."
The mother of another victim said some days her son can't get out of bed. She read from a letter he wrote: "One day I would like to know what it's like to get up and not remember."
The mother said Roberts had a close relationship with the family, being invited to family gatherings. She said the abuse by Roberts has had a ripple effect in her family's life.
"Mark Roberts used God to get to his own devious desire," she said. "How and when do we get our spirituality back?"
A stepfather of one of the victims took the stand to ask that Roberts go to jail.
Mosley said to him, "There are numerous examples of bizarre behavior, but no inference of sexual penetration or sex in the traditional sense."
The stepfather agreed there hadn't been traditional sex.
Roberts pleaded guilty to charges of molestation. In the criminal complaint, prosecutors said Roberts forced the boys to perform "penance" by submitting to abuse. Roberts did such things such as dripping hot wax on them.
Roberts said being forced to give up his vocation may be the most painful punishment he could experience. He said he had wanted to be a priest since he was 6 years old and had served for 33 years.
"I blamed no one but myself," he said. "I apologize to the young men and their families."
In granting Roberts probation, Mosley suspended a five-year prison sentence and said that Roberts must remain under house arrest at a relative's home and he put into effect an interstate motion to see if Missouri will take him into a treatment program where he has been for part of the last 14 months.
Mosley reserved the right to resentence Roberts.
"I will say this is a very unusual case. In my 23 years on the bench, I don't think I've seen anything like this. The behavior is far more bizarre than sexual. No doubt the young men were embarrassed and humiliated. This kind of offense is particularly distasteful when it involves a violation of trust ... with a person in a position of authority."
Roberts said he was grateful for the support and guidance the diocese has continued to provide him, despite the "shame and humiliation I brought to them."
Roberts, who said he has been confined to treatment facilities since February 2002, said he has been receiving medical and psychological care and has been diagnosed as a manic depressive. Roberts was charged in the case in April 2002.
In January Roberts pleaded guilty to one count of open or gross lewdness and four counts of child abuse and neglect.
In exchange for Roberts' guilty plea, prosecutors dropped two felony counts of using the boys to produce pornographic photos.
Roberts will have to register as a sex offender and is not to have unsupervised contact with children. The deal also required that he resign from the priesthood.
But the end of the criminal case will mark the beginning of civil proceedings against the former priest, said Al Massi, an attorney who filed a lawsuit against Roberts on the boys' behalf.
Massi filed the suit in March on behalf of the five victims and four additional alleged victims, claiming Roberts "sexually abused, assaulted and exploited" the boys.
The lawsuit alleges the diocese, former Las Vegas Catholic Bishop Daniel Walsh and his successor, Bishop Joseph Pepe, were negligent because they knew or should have known about the abuse and stopped it.
A district judge had delayed the civil proceedings until after the criminal proceedings were resolved.
When entering his guilty plea before District Judge Joseph Bonaventure, Roberts admitted to fondling and abusing the boys.
Herndon said the abuse occurred in Roberts' living quarters on church grounds "under the guise of spiritual counseling."
Sun reporters
Timothy Pratt and Emily Richmond contributed to this story.
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