One thing that seems to routinely plague the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania is its connection with sex crimes related to children. Authorities in the church have been accused with a variety of crimes, including child molestation, sexual assault and possessing or creating child pornography.

In one of the most recent cases, one of the biggest questions is with regard to what authorities knew what details of the case. Questions are also arising regarding the point in time when those authorities learned that about the alleged sex crimes.

A computer technician was doing repair work on a priest's laptop. The computer technician, Ken, worked with his Catholic Diocese, and the computer work was part of his involvement. As Ken was working on the computer, he came across a set of pictures.

The first few pictures involved clothed girls doing normal activities, and Ken thought the pictures seemed artistic, even if a bit strange. He reported, "I looked at the first one. It was a young girl climbing up the back of a pickup truck and I thought, huh, that's kind of a neat shot. The next one that I clicked on was a girl...climbing out of a swimming pool and all it showed was her rear end. Then there was a little girl on the grass with her legs spread. All you could see was the area from her belly button to her knees."

A Supreme Court case from the 1960s focused on the definition of pornography, and since the case, a quote from one justice has become infamous. "I know it when I see it."

If looked at alone, any of the first few pictures would not necessarily be described as pornographic. However, as Ken continued working on the computer, he came across more pictures. He eventually found pictures of young girls who were naked from the waist down and several that were "sexually graphic."

The priest is currently facing charges, but the confusion around the first pictures seems to have permeated the case. When higher-ups in the church were made aware of the pictures -- without seeing them but merely hearing descriptions -- they did not think the pictures constituted pornography.

Now, those authorities are also facing scrutiny and may be facing charges. Read more in our upcoming posts to learn how the church authorities handled the case and whether they should have known more than they did.

Source: Reuters, "SPECIAL REPORT - Who knew what, when in Kansas City priest child porn case," Carey Gillam, Dec. 6, 2011