ST. LOUIS • A St. Louis priest caught in an online sex sting last summer was sentenced Thursday to 80 months in federal prison.

The Rev. James P. Grady, 59, was the pastor of St. Raphael the Archangel Church in south St. Louis at the time. He was arrested July 29 at a St. Louis County home being used by undercover police and FBI agents after responding to an online ad.

Grady had exchanged 25 to 30 messages with an e-mail address listed in an ad in the "adult services" section of the Craigslist website, and agreed to pay $80 for 30 minutes of kissing and oral sex with a 16-year-old girl, prosecutors have said.

Grady was one of three men caught in the sting. He pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of child pornography, as investigators found images of child pornography on his personal laptop computer.

In court, Grady said he was "deeply sorry" for the pain he caused family, friends, parishioners and the church and grateful for his supporters, who, he said, know "what's in my heart."

Some of those supporters attended the hearing, and Grady hugged them outside of the courtroom.

In addition to the prison time, U.S. District Judge Jean Hamilton fined Grady $12,500 and ordered him to be evaluated for sex offender treatment. He will be on supervised release for life and will face a variety of restrictions on his behavior, including a ban from parks, schools and other places where children congregate without special permission.

He also had to forfeit his personal laptop, car and cash.

In a statement, St. Louis Archbishop Robert J. Carlson said that he would begin the laicization process now that the criminal case has been concluded.