He was removed from the hospital and from ministry in 2002 after he was charged with sexually abusing three boys in the 1980s at a church in suburban Chicago.

The victims told investigators that "Father Fred" repeatedly molested them, often using the pretense of swaddling them in "Baby Jesus" costumes for pageants that never took place. He pleaded guilty in the case in 2004 and was sentenced to five years in prison.

In 2008, Lenczycki was the first former clergy member committed under Illinois’ Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act, which allows prosecutors to seek commitment in a state facility for sex offenders they believe will hurt more people.

Lenczycki continued to act as a priest until 2002 despite allegations of abuse brought to the attention of church officials, who moved him from Illinois to Missouri and then California, according to advocates with the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP). Records of abuse allegations span from 1979 to the early ’90s but weren’t made public until the early 2000s, advocates said.

David Clohessy, a longtime advocate with SNAP, said Thursday that Lenczycki's convition was a "relief" and that the ex-priest should get "the longest possible sentence."