Former Catholic school teacher sentenced in sex abuse case

A former Catholic school teacher arrested last year in Lee County will spend 12 to 30 years in prison for sexually abusing children during his tenure at a southern Michigan school in the 1970s.

Joseph Comperchio, 67, was sentenced Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court, Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced. He also must register as a sex offender.

Comperchio was living in Fort Myers at the time of his arrest, but the charges stem from his work as a drama and music teacher at St. John Catholic School in Jackson, where he taught between 1974-77. The Michigan attorney general said Comperchio also formerly taught at Canterbury School in the Cypress Lake community of Lee County. The Canterbury School said there were two former employees from two different decades accused of misconduct involving minors, but the school did not release their names.

Comperchio pleaded guilty in June to three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Nessel’s office charged Comperchio in September with six counts of criminal sexual conduct for sexually abusing two children and added five new counts in October related to two other individuals.

The victims said the assaults happened while he was a teacher.