McCandless, 56, of Wilmington, a former DeSales University priest, was charged by indictment with three counts of child pornography offenses.
McCandless was charged with possessing child pornography for importation into the United States, transporting child pornography in interstate and foreign commerce, and attempting to access with intent to view child pornography.
Following a court proceeding, he was ordered to be placed on home incarceration with electronic monitoring and to surrender his passport because he has frequently traveled overseas and had numerous contacts abroad.
From 2010 until January 2017, as a member of the Catholic order of Oblates of St. Francis DeSales, McCandless was assigned to St. Charles Parish in the European Principality of Monaco.
While he was working overseas in Monaco, McCandless allegedly amassed a collection of thousands of images of child pornography, including what was described as the torture of very young children, which he brought back with him to the United States when returning in January 2017.
Once back in the United States, the defendant allegedly attempted to access similar images and also conducted Internet searches for things like how to get “off the grid,” how-to “disappear,” and how to erase items from “the cloud.”
If convicted, the defendant faces a maximum possible sentence of 60 years in prison.
