Priest Claims He Downloaded Child Porn To Get ‘Revenge’ On God For Poker Losses

A New Jersey priest was sentenced Thursday to 11-and-a-half to 23-and-a-half months in jail after pleading guilty in March to a count of disseminating child pornography. Rev. Kevin Gugliotta of Mahwah, New Jersey, claimed he collected computerized child pornography in an attempt to get “revenge” on God after losing poker games.

Court records showed the 55-year-old priest amassed some of the child pornography on a computer at his weekend home in Gouldsboro, Pennsylvania, the Associated Press reported Friday. The discovery was made on a tip last August by the district attorney’s office in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. The home was located approximately 90 miles from where he served as parochial vicar at Holy Spirit Church in Union, New Jersey.

The Pocono Record said Thursday that the files were uploaded to the computer between July 9 and Aug. 29. Authorities reportedly received the tipoff on Aug. 9.

Gugliotta originally faced 40 charges, including 20 counts of disseminating child pornography and 20 counts of possessing it. Gugliotta pleaded guilty to only a single count of dissemination earlier this year in exchange for the other 39 counts being dropped.

Pretrial records showed that the priest told probation officers that he’d obtained the files as an act of “revenge” while feeling that God was attacking him after he lost poker games and tournaments.

“That was his reason,” defense attorney James Swetz said, according to the Associated Press. “He's not happy that's how he felt, as the judge indicated. There are other ways to handle issues and handle anger.”

Of the allegation that the crime was committed as an act of revenge against God, a fellow clergyman said he was surprised.

“That was a surprising thing in the court, sure, when I heard that, but people do things under stress that they normally wouldn't do,” said Rev. Gabriel Costa of the Archdiocese of Newark.

While being interviewed by authorities about the allegations of possessing child pornography, Gugliotta never denied having it. While being questioned, the Poncho Record reported, his “eyes became teary, his mouth became very dry and he fidgeted in his chair, all of which authorities view as signs of deception.”

The images found on Gugliotta’s computer were of boys as young as 8 years old, Fox News reported Friday.

Gugliotta had been removed from public ministry after the Church learned of the investigation in September. The priest may face additional discipline now that the court process has come to a close. Jim Goodness, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Newark, said that Gugliotta could also be defrocked.

The Church reportedly suspended Gugliotta in 2003 for allegedly molesting a teenage boy decades prior. However, he was reinstated in 2004 by the Archdiocese of Newark without discipline, as the alleged molestation occurred when he was a layman and before he entered the priesthood. The Associated Press reported that Gugliotta was permitted to minister youth groups throughout his lengthy career as a priest.

Gugliotta received credit on his sentence for 10 months already served. He will serve the remainder of his sentence at the Wayne County jail and will later face five years of probation.