ST. LOUIS (AP) — The first Catholic priest in the U.S. to be labeled sexually violent when he was convicted in Illinois was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for abusing two boys in Missouri in the 1990s.

Fred Lenczycki, 75, pleaded guilty in May to two counts of sodomy for crimes that occurred from 1991 to 1994, when he served a parish in north St. Louis County. He was sentenced to 10-year sentences for each count, to run concurrently.

Lenczycki admitted grabbing the genitals of one boy and trying to force the other to expose himself. Though the crimes occurred more than 25 years ago, Lenczycki wasn’t charged until February.

Lenczycki apologized in a brief statement in court. His attorney, Matthew Radefeld, called the sentence “disappointing” because Lenczycki has been undergoing counseling and “made great strides.”

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell, in a statement, called Lenczycki a “monster whose actions have affected countless victims and stolen the lives of countless children.”

One of the victims, Charlie Gensler III, now 37, called the sentence “a great step toward our healing and exposing the sexual abuse that occurs within the Catholic Church.” But, he said, the pain will never go away.

“Even though I’m happy with the sentence, it is basically all of us who are condemned to a life sentence of pain, grief and suffering,” Gensler said.

Lenczycki was removed from the ministry in 2002, when he was charged with sexually abusing three boys in the 1980s at a church in Hinsdale, Illinois. Those victims told authorities “Father Fred” repeatedly molested them, often using the pretense of swaddling them in “Baby Jesus” costumes for pageants that never took place.

Lenczycki pleaded guilty in 2004 and was sentenced to five years in prison. In 2008, a year before his release, he became the first U.S. priest to be labeled sexually violent when he was committed under Illinois’ Sexually Violent Persons Commitment Act.

Church and court files show that Lenczycki admitted abusing up to 30 boys in Illinois, Missouri and California over 25 years. He now lives in suburban Chicago.

Victims of clergy sexual abuse have demanded more accountability and transparency from the Catholic church since last year, when a Pennsylvania report detailed seven decades of child sexual abuse by predator priests. The Vatican convened a sexual abuse summit in February to hear the testimony of several victims.

In addition to the criminal cases, Lenczycki is named in several lawsuits.

RENO COUNTY — A small earthquake shook south-central Kansas Friday morning.  The quake just before 8a.m. measured a magnitude 4.2 and was centered approximately 2 miles west of South Hutchinson, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Residents in the area also reported small aftershocks a short time later. The USGS says two aftershocks were centered approximately 7 miles west of South Hutchinson and measured a magnitude 3.1 and 2.6. A third aftershock measured 2.7 and was centered closer to the original quake, approximately 2 miles west of South Hutchinson.

There were reports of some minor damage including at the Reno County Courthouse. County Administrator Gary Meagher says it appears to be mainly cosmetic, but are checking to make sure there isn’t any structural damage.

Reno County Emergency Management Director Adam Weishaar talks of the some of the damage.

“We have had any reports of any major structural damage,” said Weishaar. “Dillons at 5th and Adams had closed because they had a lot of items knocked off their shelves.

Hutchinson Regional Medical Center also has some minor damage and Egbert Liquor at 5th and Monroe also has bottles of liquor broken during the quake knocking them off the shelf.

Although we’ve had earthquakes before, this one was unusual. “This was weird, at least since I’ve been here, this is the biggest one we’ve had,” said Weishaar. “The aftershocks that came with this were fairly big compared to normal.

Many residents reported pictures coming off their wall and other issues with their homes. Businesses are also assessing damage.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The state of Kansas is canceling a grant for an early literacy program for public school children after an audit found the company that administers the course received millions of dollars it wasn’t entitled to during former Gov. Sam Brownback’s administration.

The Kansas Department for Children and Families announced Friday it was ending the contract with Hysell & Wagner, which operated the Kansas Reading Roadmap program.

An audit that began under Brownback’s administration but was never finalized or released found that Hysell & Wagner claimed nearly $2.3 million in 2014 and 2015 that it shouldn’t have, the agency said in a news release. In a typical year, the grant is worth about $9 million.

Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly’s administration has found other problems with Hysell & Wagner’s grant, including excessive payments for executive salaries and expenses from Temporary Assistance for Needy Families funds, which are designated for needy families. Those expenses included 38 trips between Kansas and CEO residences in Washington, D.C., and San Diego.

“The Department for Children and Families is committed to ensuring that recipients of federal and state funds are spending those funds efficiently,” agency Secretary Laura Howard said. “After reviewing the results of a DCF audit and despite heightened oversight during the first six months of 2019, it’s clear that Hysell & Wagner is falling short of this basic standard.”

The Reading Roadmap program, which is designed to improve literacy and achievement gaps for young elementary students, will continue. The state plans to directly fund the schools planning to offer the program for this academic year.

The director of the Reading Roadmap program, Andrew Hysell, said the company was confident it had properly operated the program, The Wichita Eagle reported .

“We’ll stand behind our administration of this grant. We’ll go before the Legislature. If we need to, to save our reputation, we’ll go before a court,” Hysell said. “We are very 100 percent behind our work.”

The company’s owners received $216,000 in direct expenses, and more than $607,000 was designated in the grant as guaranteed payments for the owners to cover indirect expenses. The expenses charged to the Reading Roadmap grant exceeded a limit of 15 percent of grant costs.

Howard said her agency tried “in good faith” to work with Hysell & Wagner to correct the issues but the company “continues to struggle with the heightened monitoring requirements and has rejected revisions in their FY 2020 contract addressing indirect costs.”

“I’ve always been concerned about the use of no-bid contracts and lack of accountability under the previous administration,” Kelly said in a statement. “It’s clear that the State of Kansas cannot continue to support Hysell & Wagner’s administration of the Kansas Reading Roadmap program.”