Religious brother is convicted of sex abuse, faces further charges

Published: 2004-02-11

MOBILE, Ala. (CNS) -- A Mobile County jury convicted Sacred Heart Brother Nicholas Bendillo Feb. 6 of enticing a child for immoral purposes and second-degree sexual abuse. Brother Bendillo, 75, a longtime teacher and counselor at McGill-Toolen Catholic High School in Mobile, could face up to five years on the enticement conviction and an additional year for the count of sexual abuse. He is to be sentenced March 10. He still faces four more trials, each on two similar charges, for alleged crimes against four other former students. Brother Bendillo, also known as "Brother Vic," joined the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in 1943 and was a counselor at McGill-Toolen, formerly called McGill Institute, from 1959 until his removal in 1998 following a sexual abuse complaint against him.

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