U.S. Department
of Justice
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
MEDIA INQUIRIES: KATHY COLVIN |
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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2009
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PHONE: (214)659-8600
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FORMER GRAND PRAIRIE, TEXAS, PRIEST SENTENCED DALLAS — Matthew Bagert, 40, a former priest in Grand Prairie, Texas, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 51 months in federal prison, following his guilty plea in April to one count of possession of child pornography, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Bagert, now a resident of Richardson, Texas, will also be required to register as a sex offender and must surrender to the Bureau of Prisons on January 19, 2010. In plea documents signed and filed with the Court, on February 1, 2005, Grand Prairie Police executed a search warrant at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church after receiving information that an associate priest saw, then Father Matthew Bagert, viewing an image of a young, nude boy on the rectory computer. Bagert admitted that he was responsible for the child pornography on the rectory computer and that he had used the Internet to find the images. # # # |