PHILADELPHIA — United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Romero announced that William McCandless, age 59, of Elkton, Maryland, a former DeSales University priest, was sentenced this week to 37 months imprisonment followed by 15 years of supervised release. He is also required to register pursuant to the Sexual Offender Registration and Notification Act.
On May 27, 2022, McCandless pleaded guilty to access and attempted access with the intent to view child pornography. In 2017, McCandless searched for images of young boys and accessed over 3000 web pages depicting and offering child sex abuse images. He also accessed dozens of stories that graphically detailed and described the sexual torture of young boys.
“Those in positions of power and trust should never put the safety of our children in peril,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “The actions taken by the defendants in Project Safe Childhood cases cause trauma and heartache for the victims and their families. Our office will continue pursuing these cases to help ensure our communities are safe.”
“For a priest and university faculty member to violate his position of trust by engaging in the depraved activity for which he previously pled guilty is reprehensible,” said William S. Walker, Special Agent in Charge for HSI Philadelphia. “Homeland Security Investigations and our law enforcement partners around the world will continue to coordinate closely to ensure our communities are protected from child predators who exploit vulnerable victims.”
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the High Technology Investigative Unit of the Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sherri A. Stephan.
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