Molester Gets 9 Years for Crimes in Church
A61-year-old man who pleaded guilty to molesting a 9-year-old boy in their Canoga Park church was sentenced Friday in San Fernando Superior Court to six years in state prison.
John Edward Branigan pleaded guilty in December to two charges of lewd conduct with a child and could have been sentenced to a maximum of 10 years. He will be eligible for parole in three years.
Judge Dana Senit Henry sent Branigan to prison despite a state prison-system psychological report recommending that he be given probation. Henry said she based her decision on Branigan’s guilty plea and a county Probation Department report that recommended a prison term.
Branigan, who now lives in Malibu, was charged with molesting the boy 15 times between August, 1983, and April, 1984. According to transcripts of the preliminary hearing in the case, the molesting occurred at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church, where Branigan had been a member for five years. Authorities said he and the boy were in a church drama group.
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