Pa. court upholds former Allentown Diocese priest’s prison sentence

The state Superior Court upheld the sentence of a former Allentown Diocese priest who admitted groping a 17-year-old parishioner and sending her lewd photos.

Lehigh County Judge Maria L. Dantos sentenced Kevin Lonergan, 33, to one to two years in state prison, the maximum allowed by law for indecent assault. Lonergan, who served at St. Francis of Assisi Church in Allentown, admitted to rubbing his body against an Allentown

Catholic High School student in a sexual manner in a church hallway and sending her 20 sexually explicit photos and one video.

In his appeal, Lonergan complained that Dantos’ sentence exceeded recommendations of county probation officials, who provide judges with presentence reports. He also said Dantos improperly considered factors beyond the crime he was being sentenced for, including prior allegations that he had improper conduct with young girls, leading to Lonergan’s transfer to another parish.

Dantos spoke about the prior allegations during his sentencing hearing: “We are still transferring priests that molest children?” she asked, her voice raised.

While the prior allegation did not lead to Lonergan’s arrest and was previously revealed in a 2018 news release and letter to parishioners, the judge still had strong words for the Catholic Church at Lonergan’s sentencing hearing, noting that the practice of moving troublesome priests from one church to another has been condemned since the early 1980s.

In a 14-page opinion filed Friday, Superior Court Judge Megan McCarthy King found that Dantos did not abuse her discretion in mentioning the prior accusations against Lonergan.

“The court made clear that its reason for imposing the maximum possible sentence was based on Appellant’s abuse of his position of trust with the victim,” King wrote.

Lonergan, of Pottsville, will be a registered sex offender under Megan’s Law for 15 years after he’s released from prison.