Man convicted of stealing Baby Jesus statue from Northern Liberties church speaks out
Philly man convicted of stealing baby Jesus statue speaks out
A Philadelphia man is speaking out after he was convicted of stealing a Baby Jesus statue in Northern Liberties. He says he did not commit the crime.
PHILADELPHIA - A Philadelphia man says he was convicted of a crime he didn't commit—stealing a Baby Jesus statue from a nativity scene at the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann.
Now, he's sharing his side of the story.
What they're saying:
"I have no need for a Baby Jesus, to steal Baby Jesus. I grew up in a church, especially next to a dead saint there, John Neumann," said Raymond Wilson.
Raymond Wilson says he had no idea why Philadelphia police came to his home and arrested him in late January.
"The police came. I was outside working on my car, and they said, 'We wanna talk to you,' and they put handcuffs on me and took me to the police station," Wilson explained.
Baby Jesus statue stolen from church in Northern Liberties
A decades-old Baby Jesus heirloom was taken from the nativity scene inside the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann in Philadelphia.
The 56-year-old was arrested and charged with stealing the Baby Jesus statuette out of the nativity scene inside the Shrine of Saint John Neumann at 5th Street and Girard Avenue days after Christmas.
FOX 29 reported on the theft in January with surveillance photos taken from video of the suspected thief.
Baby Jesus heirloom stolen from historic Philly church; 'person of interest' sought
A decades-old Baby Jesus heirloom was taken from the nativity scene inside the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann in Philadelphia.
Raymond Wilson says this is not him, despite the resemblance to his Philadelphia police booking photo, which he even admits.
"I said, 'Wow, it looks like me at first glance, but it's not me,'" Wilson stated."I never heard about it. I never knew about it, nothing."
Keeley: "So if you didn't do this and never heard about this happening even though it was in the news, what went through your mind when they told you you were being arrested for stealing a Baby Jesus statue?"
"I thought they would look at the photographs of the theft and let me go, but they not only didn't let me go, they tried me and convicted me," Wilson replied.
Even Raymond admits he looks a lot like the man on the surveillance, but says when the video was played in his trial, showed a man with a distinctive, different walk.
The judge was not swayed and convicted him last week of intentional desecration of a public monument, theft, receiving stolen property, and institutional vandalism.
"It's clearly not me on the videos, and the judge kept saying it's me. And when the trial was over, he said maybe he sold it for a bag of crack. He said, 'Son, what did you get a bag of crack for that Baby Jesus?' And I stood up. My lawyer says, 'Sit down, sit down, don't say nothing,'" Wilson recounted.
What's next:
Because of prior theft convictions, he could be facing a lengthy prison time.
"At first, they offered me a deal to plead guilty—16 hours of community service and return of the Baby Jesus statue. But I don't have the Baby Jesus statue to return. I don't know nothing about it. My lawyer says it's up to the judge. My guidelines are like two and a half years to five years," Wilson said.
"So they offered you no jail time, just community service and returning the Baby Jesus statue?" Wilson was asked.
"Correct, yes. I don't have it to return. I never took it, so I wasn't gonna plead guilty to something I didn't do," Wilson concluded.