Pa. priest gets probation for teen relationship

SMETHPORT, Pa. (AP) — A suspended Catholic priest will spend two years on probation — and his bishop has already said the priest’s felony conviction will keep him out of active ministry — for his inappropriate relationship with a 15-year-old Pennsylvania boy.

The Bradford Era reports the Rev. Samuel Slocum was sentenced Monday in McKean County where he was convicted last month of concealment of the whereabouts of a child.

Prosecutors say Father Slocum continued to contact the boy and urge him to lie about their relationship to his mother even after she told the priest to stop. The priest was not charged with sex crimes.

The 60-year-old priest apologized Monday, but the boy’s mother told the sentencing judge Slocum taught her son “to lie, to sneak out, to disobey me” and says her son no longer believes in God.