By Bruce Schreiner
The Associated Press

SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. - A Roman Catholic priest was convicted Thursday of sexually abusing two young boys from a family he befriended years ago.

The Rev. Daniel Clark was found guilty by a Bullitt County Circuit jury of two counts of first-degree sexual abuse. The jury acquitted Clark on one sodomy charge.

An additional sodomy charge was dropped shortly before the trial began.

The jury of seven men and five women deliberated for about five hours over two days after the two-day trial that began Tuesday.

Clark, 55, looked down and showed no emotion as the verdict was read by Judge Thomas Waller. Clark later clasped hands with two women seated behind him, one of whom was his sister.

The jury later recommended the maximum possible sentence: five years in prison on each of the sexual abuse counts, to be served consecutively.

Waller set final sentencing for Aug. 13. Clark will remain in the Bullitt County jail, where he has been held since his arrest in August.

If the judge accepts the jury's recommendation, Clark would have to serve one year in prison before being eligible for parole.

During the brief sentencing hearing, prosecutor Michael Mann recommended the maximum sentence, noting Clark's previous conviction on sex-related charges in the late 1980s.

"This defendant, more so than any other, needs to be in prison," said Mann, the Bullitt County commonwealth's attorney.

Mann said the maximum sentence was needed to keep Clark in prison for as long as possible so he would not abuse again.

"He had a chance to rehabilitate himself," Mann said. "He had a chance to change and he didn't."

The two victims, who are brothers now age 13 and 12, testified they were abused by Clark in their home and on outings with the priest.

Clark took the witness stand in his own defense, denying that he had molested the boys.

Prosecutors said the abuse took place over four years ending in 2002.

The boys' mother testified she had known Clark since her youth and considered him a father-like figure.

Clark was a regular visitor to the boys' home and often took them to outings such as football practice and skating.

The priest also helped out the family financially as well. He made payments on the family's mobile home and bought them food and toys.

Clark pleaded guilty in 1988 to sodomy and sexual abuse for molesting two boys at St. Rita Catholic Church in Louisville, where he was assistant pastor. He served 90 days in jail on a work-release program and five years' probation. One of those victims testified at this week's trial.

Archbishop Thomas Kelly removed Clark from public ministry after the first conviction but allowed him to volunteer for several groups and wear his priest's collar.

Some groups that Clark volunteered for were unaware of his conviction or that he was barred from working with children.

Church officials talked with Clark twice about voluntarily leaving the priesthood, once before his 1988 conviction and another time afterward, according to archdiocese records.

Clark balked on both occasions, and Kelly did not petition the Vatican to defrock him, the records showed.

Clark was accused in more than a dozen of the nearly 250 civil lawsuits filed against the Louisville archdiocese by people claiming they were sexually abused in their youth by priests or other church employees.

Clark's two latest victims filed suit against the archdiocese and Clark. Two of the boys' uncles also sued the archdiocese, claiming they also were sexually abused by Clark when they were young.

The family settled with the church as part of a $25.7 million settlement between the church and nearly 250 plaintiffs. The family's civil claims against Clark are still pending.

During the trial, defense attorney David Lambertus said the family's accusations against Clark in spring 2002 coincided with its own financial crisis.

Lambertus said the family had been served an eviction notice and that Clark, running short of money himself, was no longer able to assist.

Lambertus also said the family had to have known about Clark's previous conviction but showed no reluctance to let the priest spend time with the boys.

Mann said the boys had no reason to testify in public about embarrassing details if they weren't telling the truth.