UPDATED::Former Delaware Catholic priest charged in 25-year-old child rape case

UPDATE::  Former Delaware priest charged with child rape dies months before trial

John A. Sarro, a former priest with the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington indicted earlier this year on charges that he raped a pre-teen girl decades ago, has died.

Sarro died Monday, six months before a scheduled trial in New Castle County Superior Court. A spokesman for the Wilmington Diocese confirmed his death Wednesday.

In a first for Delaware, prosecutors have brought criminal charges against a former Catholic priest for raping a child more than 25 years ago.

John A. Sarro, 76, a former priest with the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, was indicted this week by a New Castle County grand jury on charges of first-degree unlawful sexual intercourse and second-degree unlawful sexual contact, according to court records. 

Sarro was a priest in Bear and Bellefonte through much of the '80s and '90s. He was identified by diocese officials in 2006 as one of 20 local priests with "admitted, corroborated or otherwise substantiated" allegations of sexual abuse of minors against them.

Former Delaware Catholic priest charged in 25-year-old child rape case