MEADE COUNTY, Ky. (WHAS11) -- A Meade County Circuit Judge denied the opportunity for a Louisville priest to get out of prison only months after being convicted on sex abuse charges.
Lawyers for Father Joseph Hemmerle tried to convince Judge Bruce Butler their client should be granted shock probation, which allows offenders to be released on probation not long after entering prison because of the "shock" of the prison experience.
However, according to a ruling entered Sept.15, Butler denied Hemmerle's request.
Hemmerle pleaded guilty in May to abusing a boy in the 1970s. He was sentenced to two years in prison in the case. Hemmerle was already serving a seven-year sentence for a 2016 conviction for abusing a different boy in the '70s.
The victims in both cases attended a youth camp where Hemmerle was working.
i-Team investigator Derrick Rose can be reached at 502-582-7232 and dnrose@whas11.com. Follow him on Twitter: @WHAS11DRose.