CINCINNATI — A former seminary student who pleaded guilty to charges tied to child sexual abuse materials he uploaded using the IP address of Mount St. Mary's Seminary has been sentenced to probation.
Judge Jennifer Branch sentenced 28-year-old Broderick Witt to five years probation; Prosecutors were seeking 12 years in prison.
In addition to the probation, Witt has been ordered to have no access to children, no access to internet or electronic devices and he must serve six months of his probation at River City Correctional.
Witt also now must register as a tier two sex offender.
He pleaded guilty on Aug. 9 to eight counts of pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor; he'd initially faced 15 counts.
In court on Thursday, Witt addressed the court himself before Branch handed down his sentence, claiming his actions were fueled by depression.
"For most of my life, I felt that something was missing," he said. "I have friends, but I always found I felt alone. I had a loving and supportive family, but I found that I hated myself. I had an exciting life with various opportunities and yet I felt dead inside and found that I would just go through the motions ... I'm healing from this mental distress and learning skills to help me manage my depression."
Hamilton County Assistant Prosecutor Chris Lipps argued Witt had 230 images and videos depicting sexual abuse of child victims and added that he'd shown no remorse for his actions.
"Just hearing Mr. Witt speak, you would think a person studying to be a priest, when he's facing a judge in front of these situations, the first thing he would do was to confess his sins," said Lipps. "To talk about what he did and who he hurt as a result of his actions. But we didn't hear that from him in his sermon. Instead, we heard about him, and I think that goes to show the fact that he has shown no remorse for what he has done in this case."
Branch said she decided to give Witt probation because she didn't believe he could receive adequate treatment in jail in order to be rehabilitated.
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While he was a seminary student at Mount St. Mary's Seminary, Witt shared images depicting the abuse of children online from November 2023 through February 2024, the original indictment said.
According to the prosecution, Witt had multiple videos of underage girls, including some pre-pubescent children between the ages of 6 and 10. The videos showed the children engaging in various sexual acts, including one with an adult male.
Following his arrest, the Archdiocese of Cincinnati released a statement saying Witt is "no longer a student of this institution, nor a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati."
"The seminary and the Archdiocese of Cincinnati have strict policies against, and take significant precautions to prevent, anyone from possessing or accessing material of this type, regardless of whether they are a student, faculty, or staff," the statement reads. "Discovery of such material will result in immediate termination or dismissal and notification of law enforcement.
Catholic church records show Witt interned for at least three Catholic churches; Saint Ann of Groesbeck, Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenhills and St. Albert the Great in Kettering. Social media photos show he worked with children.
The archdiocese declined to answer the I-Team's questions about its internet security but said pastors of parishes Witt interned for had been "ministering to their parishioners as appropriate," according to Archdiocese Director of Media Relations Jennifer Schack.
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