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Former Geneva priest set to leave prison at month's end
By Josh Stockinger | Daily Herald Staff

Mark Campobello

 

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Published: 7/15/2010 5:15 PM | Updated: 7/15/2010 5:25 PM

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A former priest who pleaded guilty to molesting two girls at a Geneva church and an Aurora high school is scheduled to be released from prison this month, state officials said Thursday.

Mark Campobello, 45, has been imprisoned at Logan Correctional Center in Lincoln for about a year on a parole violation. He is to be "completely discharged" on July 28, according to Sharyn Elman, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

"He has served his sentence and completed his parole," Elman said.

Campobello pleaded guilty in 2004 to molesting two girls, ages 14 and 15, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Geneva and Aurora Central Catholic High School in 1999 and 2000.

After serving about 3 1/2 years in prison, he was released in February 2008, only to return two months later - and again in April 2009 - on separate parole violations. "Given the chance, he will almost certainly molest again," the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said in a statement. "There's really just one hope now: That others who saw, suspected or suffered Campobello's crimes will call police and start prosecuting him. We're confident more victims are out there."

The Vatican expelled Campobello during his initial prison stay, and later paid more than $2 million to settle lawsuits that held church leaders responsible for his actions.

He was sent back to prison in 2008 after making three unauthorized stops on a trip away from home, and again in 2009 because he no longer had a permanent residence in Crystal Lake.

As a registered sex offender for life, Campobello will have to provide his new address upon his release later this month.