A former Suffolk priest whose sentence for raping a 5-year-old boy was postponed due to his terminal illness started serving his time Monday.

Barry Ryan's two-year sentence for the 2003 crime was delayed for four years. At the initial sentencing, Ryan's attorneys argued that their client only had a few months to live. Prosecutors said the 59-year-old Ryan used every medical excuse available to try and avoid going to prison, and said he tried to kill himself at one point.

Defense attorney Joseph Ostrowsky denied the claims. "It's terminal, but it's non-predictable. Some people go very quickly from it," Ostrowsky said.

The victim's mother, whose identity News 12 Long Island is protecting, is relieved Ryan is going to jail.

"Them trying to make the excuse that he shouldn't be serving a sentence because of his illness is ludicrous to me," she said. "I'm just glad that it's over and I don't have to do this anymore."

Melanie Little, the victim's attorney, said the court's sympathy toward Ryan shows it forgot who the victim was.

"This little boy can take no medication for pain," Little said. "He lives with this pain every single day. He has nightmares, he has flashbacks. The victim is a 5-year-old child, not a grown man who did heinous crimes."

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