Spokesman: Pope may pardon former butler

VATICAN CITY, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- A spokesman for the Vatican said Tuesday Pope Benedict XVI may still decide to spare his former butler an 18-month prison term.

Paolo Gabriele is now being held under house arrest, the Italian news agency ANSA reported. The judges who convicted him Oct. 6 of stealing confidential documents and sentenced him to prison found he had harmed the Roman Catholic Church and the pope, Federico Lombardi said.

"A papal pardon remains a possibility, but we cannot predict if, how and when," Lombardi said.

The Vatican is investigating Gabriele's story that he was mistreated after his arrest, the spokesman added.