A 74-year-old Catholic priest pleaded guilty to sexually abusing two young boys in the early 1990s.

Frederick Lenczyski admitted two counts of sodomy between 1991 and 1994. He reportedly made two children dress like baby Jesus before molesting them.

The pedophile Catholic priest is awaiting a sentence for his crimes on August 15th. He's likely to face a life sentence of imprisonment.

This priest was previously charged with sexually assaulting three other boys in Chicago in the 1980s.

The victims of the assaults told the court that the priest, who they used to call Father Fred, would make them dress as baby Jesus.

He did so under the pretense that he was organizing a religious pageant and wanted them to participate. But there were no such events, and the priest swaddled them for his own amusement.

In 2004, the priest had also been charged for sexual abuse and was jailed for five years.

According to St Louis Dispatch, in 2008, Lenczyski was a clergy member committed under Illinois' Sexually Violent Person Committed Act. The rule permits prosecutors to seek commitment in a state facility for sex offenders who they believe are likely to assault more people.

Lenczyski also used the pageants as an excuse to spend time with the young boys and cover his assaults.

The sexual assaults happened when the priest was the Chaplain at St Louis's DePaul Health Center.

Randy Kandy, one other victim Lenczyski admitted assaulting during a Thursday's court hearing, said the pervert's guilty plea would help put the ordeal behind him.

He said:

"I am so relieved that justice finally didn't give up on me. For all those years, people looked the other way, it felt like. And now, finally, something's done."

According to the court's criminal records, Lenczyski had reportedly admitted to abused up to 30 children, all boys, across Missouri, Illinois, and California, in the 25 years.

David Advocate, a spokesperson from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), called on Lenczyski to get the "longest possible sentence."

He said:

"We remain deeply grateful to and impressed by the two St Louis men who stuck their necks out so that others will not have to worry about Fr Lenczyski being around children or vulnerable adults in the future."

Pedophilia and sexual assault scandals are on the rise in the Catholic Church. And not long ago, an organization paid off a lobbying firm to block bills related to sexual crimes against children.

In 2015, the New York State Catholic Conference contacted lobbying groups to block the Child Victim Act. The bill was aiming at making it easy for sex offenders to defend themselves against their accusers.

A study conducted in 2018 revealed that hundreds of priests are sexually abusing children across Pennsylvania state.

But the offenders escape repercussions through help from high church officials.

According to Penn Live reports, at least 99 priests in Pittsburgh Diocese were in a pedophile ring. These priests were accused of working with a predatory ring that produced children's pornography movies.

And according to the investigation, most of the sex offenders were between age 70 and 80 years.