The State : Ex-Priest to Be Sentenced

A former Episcopal priest was convicted of molesting a 6-year-old boy in a church rectory and faces up to eight years in prison when sentenced in November, officials said. Robert Henry, 56, of San Luis Obispo County, was acquitted on another charge of molestation involving an 11-year-old boy in 1985. The Superior Court jury could not reach a verdict on five other counts involving the same boy, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Don Coleman. The molestation occurred after the younger boy attended a confirmation class taught by Henry at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Parish Day School in Ventura, Coleman said. Henry is free on bail pending a Nov. 22 sentencing hearing. The priest cut ties with the Episcopal Church in early 1987 after the allegations were made public. Both boys said that after several afternoon confirmation classes, Henry took them to the rectory and fondled them.