US church minister fired for surfing porn sites at work

Washington, Jan 9 (ANI): A prominent conservative Anglican church in the United States has fired a long-time priest for repeatedly using a church computer to surf pornographic websites.

Rev. Marshall Brown, an associate rector at Truro Church in Fairfax, Virginia, was removed from post last month after church officials learned he was surfing sites 'that would be considered pornography', reports the Washington Post.

Truro executive director Warren Thrasher said Brown, who had been at Truro for about 10 years, was in charge of ministering to members of the congregation dealing with illness and other problems.

Bishop Martyn Minns, who was Truro's rector at the time and currently the head of the Convocation of Anglicans in North America, said he has known Brown since seminary.

He said Brown, now 57, was treated for Internet addiction in 2005 and the church was told at the time that he was not doing anything illegal, including looking at child pornography.

Minns said he would launch an investigation into what happened and whether Brown should be stripped of his priestly credentials.

Meanwhile, Brown said he deeply regretted the way his tenure at Truro ended and the way his actions have affected his family and church.

He, however, declined to go into the specifics of what happened.

"The church, Bishop Minns, they've treated me fairly. If I were a denominational leader, I would do exactly the same thing," he said. (ANI)