Funeral director guilty of 16 counts of abuse of corpse after taking graphic cellphone photos

STROUDSBURG, Pa. -- (WPMT) -- A former Pennsylvania funeral director was sentenced Wednesday after she pleaded guilty to taking photos with bodies as they were being prepared for burial.

Angeliegha “Angel” Stewart pleaded guilty in Monroe County court to 16 counts of abuse of a corpse. She will spend the next 10 years on probation.

Investigators say last year Stewart snapped images of bodies at the Lanterman and Allen Funeral Home in East Stroudsburg as they were being prepared for burial, then showed them to friends as a joke.

One photo showed a corpse whose organs had been removed. Another showed a body covered in maggots.

Stewart admitted to showing the pictures to her friends to “gross them out.”

Among those photos was one of the husband of Rev. Cait Finnegan.

“I don't think she is going to change without being forced to think about what she has done. She's on probation and the only thing she is forced to do now is not get caught again,” Rev. Finnegan told WNEP.

Stewart sobbed as she told the victims' families she was sorry. She said, ”If I could take away the pain, I would but it's too late. My life came crashing down last year. I just hope you can get closure. I know you probably hate me. I just hope you can get over this and move on. I'm really sorry and there is nothing more I can say.”

Stewart will spend the next 10 years on probation, serve 250 hours of community service, and she had to give up her funeral director's license.