Ex-Geneva priest back in custody

Mark Campobello, the ex-Geneva priest paroled after serving prison time for molesting two teenage girls, is back in prison, authorities said Wednesday.

Campobello, 43, was taken into custody Monday on a violation of his parole, likely for missing an appointment or an unauthorized trip, said Derek Schnapp, an Illinois prison spokesman.

"He wasn't arrested or had new charges," Schnapp said.

Campobello was paroled in mid-February after he served about 3½ years and moved to 6418 Vermont Trail, in Crystal Lake, according to the state's sex offender registry.

He has been in the Dixon correctional facility since he was detained for the violation and is expected to remain until he meets with a review board, Schnapp said.

Campobello pleaded guilty in 2004 to sexually abusing the girls while assigned to St. Peter Catholic Church in Geneva, charges which divided the parish and sparked a legal fight with the Rockford Diocese.

The Vatican expelled Campobello from the priesthood while he was in prison.

He was first arrested in Belvidere in 2002 and charged with criminal sexual assault after a girl came forward and said she was molested by the priest when she was 14 at St. Peter Elementary School.

Other charges were filed in late 2003, after a second girl accused Campobello of improperly touching her when she was 16 and 17 at Aurora Central Catholic School.

The Rockford Diocese later apologized to the girls, now adults, and paid more than $2 million to settle lawsuits that held the church responsible for Campobello's actions.