Henderson priest appears in court

Erica D. Johnson

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2003 | 11:19 a.m.

The fate of a Henderson priest who pleaded guilty to abusing five teen boys remained unknown this morning as he appeared in court for the first time since he was sentenced to probation.

Mark Roberts was sentenced to three years probation and ordered to relocate to a Missouri treatment center. But the Department of Parole and Probation in that state denied Roberts placement.

Roberts appeared before District Judge Donald Mosley this morning to determine when he would be re-sentenced.

Mosley ordered the Nevada Department of Parole and Probation to "look into some alternatives" and find another custodial facility, similar to the one in Missouri, at which Roberts can carry out the original sentence.

Mosley set a status hearing for Oct. 1.

Until then "Roberts will be kept on house arrest, like he is now," Mosley said. Authorities would not comment on where Roberts is being held.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Doug Herndon said the Nevada Department of Parole and Probation should have a treatment facility lined up for Roberts by the next hearing.

He said he doesn't expect Roberts will be sentenced to prison at that time, as family members of some of the victims have requested.

"It was pretty clear Mosley wanted (Roberts) to comply with the original sentence," Herndon said. "It's not the defendant's fault that that didn't happen."

The Missouri Parole and Probation Department had accepted Roberts into the Recon treatment center after Roberts pleaded guilty to abusing the teens at the St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church in Henderson.

The department had already purchased a plane ticket for Roberts when the state suddenly refused the interstate compact, Herndon said.

State officials alluded to media attention surrounding the case, as well as the fact that one of the victims attends school 20 to 30 miles away, as reasons for the refusal, Herndon said.

Debbie Tullgren, the mother of one of the teens abused, said she still hopes Roberts will get prison time and that the killing of former priest John Geoghan by another inmate last week will not be a block to that.

Geoghan, who was serving a 10-year sentence in a Massachusetts prison for sexually abusing dozens of young parishioners at his Boston parish over decades, was attacked after he was left alone with a prisoner who was serving a life sentence for murder.

Tullgren said the safety of people in Las Vegas community, and not Roberts, should be paramount, she said.

"If (authorities) are worried for his safety, they need to be worried for the safety of all citizens, especially children, in the state of Nevada," she said.