Disgraced Idaho priest serving lengthy sentence for child pornography dies in jail
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Meredith Spelbring and Karen Lehr, KIVI
BOISE (KIVI) — Father William Thomas Faucher, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a long list of felony charges related to child sex crimes, died at Idaho State Correctional Institution Thursday morning.
Faucher, 75, was found unresponsive in the ISCI medical unit Thursday morning and attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful, according to Idaho Department of Correction spokesman Jeff Ray. He was pronounced dead at 10:52 a.m. and the death appears to be from natural causes, Ray said.
The Boise priest retired in 2015 and was arrested in February 2018 on charges of 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, and two additional felonies for knowingly distributing by any means materials involving sexually exploitive material of a child. Faucher was also charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Catholic Church strips Boise priest of title and cuts ties after child pornography conviction
Investigators at the time found hundreds of images of child pornography on Faucher’s computer, including some he sent to another person.
When investigators searched his home they reportedly found an open electronic chat with another individual that “appeared to have been going on for quite some time”. In that conversation, prosecuting attorneys say Faucher expressed his desire for sexual relations with children and the desire to physically harm children.
The hundreds of alleged pornographic images contain children as young as infants and toddlers “being subjected to different acts of abuse and torture.”
Investigators also reportedly found marijuana, LSD and ecstasy/MDMA in Faucher’s home.
Faucher ultimately plead guilty to five of the 24 charges against him. He was just two years into his 25-year sentence at the time of his death.
The Catholic Church defrocked Faucher in 2019.