A lawyer was spared prison time for his role in an attempted cover-up after pornographic images were discovered on a laptop computer used by the former organist and choir director at Christ Church, Greenwich, Conn.
 
U.S. District Judge Alan H. Nevas sentenced Philip Russell on Dec. 17 to six months of home confinement, a $25,000 fine, and 240 hours of community service after Mr. Russell pled guilty in September to one count of failure to report a felony.   He had been charged with obstructing an FBI investigation that led to the conviction of Robert Tate for child pornography. Mr. Tate is scheduled to be sentenced next month.
 
Mr. Russell acknowledged destroying the laptop computer, but said he did not expect an investigation. Judge Nevas said during the sentencing hearing that Mr. Tate took child prostitutes from New York to the church, as reported by the Associated Press. Prosecutor Peter Jongbloed said Mr. Tate sexually abused children in New York, the Philippines and Thailand. Mr. Russell provided Mr. Tate with the name of a criminal defense lawyer. Mr. Tate was later arrested in Los Angeles.
 
The sentencing of Mr. Tate will complete a difficult period for the historic parish where President George H. W. Bush worshiped as a young boy. The Rev. Jeffrey Walker resigned as rector during the year-and-a-half long investigation. At one time Christ Church had the largest average Sunday attendance in The Episcopal Church.
 
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