Former priest sentenced for child sex crimes in North Dakota

FARGO, N.D. – A former Roman Catholic priest accused of molesting two boys in North Dakota in the 1990s has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Fernando Sayasaya (say-uh-SAY’-uh) pleaded guilty in state court in May to two counts of felony gross sexual imposition. KFGO radio reports he was sentenced Monday, and apologized in court.

Sayasaya was accused of abusing two underage siblings from 1995 to 1998, while he was assigned to St. Mary’s Cathedral in Fargo and the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in West Fargo. He was returned to the United States in December 2017 from the Philippines, where he had been since 1998.

A Philippines court ordered Sayasaya’s extradition in 2010. He appealed and lost .