World-Herald News Service
The Rev. Paul Monahan was sentenced Friday to a suspended prison sentence and ordered to register as a sex offender for all five counts of invasion of privacy after he turned down a deferred judgement.
Associate Judge Gary Anderson sentenced Monahan, 83, to a suspended sentence of 30 days in jail per each count to be served concurrently, a year of informal probation and to register as a sex offender for 10 years. A minimum fine was also suspended.
After the year of probation, Monahan will have to be supervised for 10 years on special parole.
Monahan is the former principal at St. Albert High School and a veteran priest in southwest Iowa. He did not take the stand during his trial, which was in November 2016.
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Judge finds retired priest guilty on all five counts of invasion of privacy
The Daily Nonpareil online
Dec 16, 2016
The Rev. Paul Monahan has been found guilty by a judge of all five counts of invasion of privacy.
In a ruling released Friday afternoon, Associate Judge Gary Anderson said he found the testimony of five male high school students who said the retired priest looked at their genitals in a public restroom “entirely credible” and that his actions violated their “reasonable expectation of privacy.”
“The activities of the Defendant, Paul Andrew Monahan, were clear cut and lead to the inescapable conclusion that the Defendant on that afternoon intentionally violated these boys’ reasonable expectations of privacy for the purpose of satisfying his sexual desires while the boys were in a state of partial nudity,” Anderson wrote in his decision.
In Iowa, invasion of privacy is an aggravated misdemeanor, which carries a maximum two-year prison sentence and/or a fine between $625 and $6,250.
Monahan, 83, a former principal at St. Albert High School and veteran priest in southwest Iowa, did not take the stand during his three-day bench trial, which ran from Nov. 28-30.
During the trial, the students testified that while at a track meet at Treynor High School on April 4, Monahan had entered the restroom nine times and took a position at the urinal next to one of the teens despite others being open. They said he then stepped back and intentionally looked down at their genitals.
Monahan’s personal physician testified at the trial that his frequent visits to the restroom were because of a medical condition rather than any sexual desire. Monahan’s attorney, Bill McGinn, said during the trial that his client often looked down because of a “crick” in his neck.
Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment until Monahan is sentenced on Jan. 18. McGinn could not be reached immediately for comment.
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Friends defend retired Council Bluffs priest accused of eyeing teens’ genitals
Omaha World-Herald
By Mike Bell / World-Herald News Service
COUNCIL BLUFFS — Friends and colleagues of the Rev. Paul Monahan came to his defense Wednesday during a trial stemming from allegations that he looked at several teens’ genitalia while using the restroom during a track meet in Treynor, Iowa.
Monahan, 83, is a retired Council Bluffs priest and former principal at St. Albert Catholic School. He faces five counts of invasion of privacy.
District Associate Judge Gary Anderson of Pottawattamie County will decide if Monahan is guilty.
The defense brought forth several character witnesses, including Monahan’s friends, co-workers, alumni from St. Albert and others.
Each said he trusted Monahan, considered him an upstanding man of God and didn’t have issues with him, including around children.
Monahan’s personal physician also was called to the stand, though the public was not allowed to be present during his testimony as it concerned Monahan’s medical information.
Bill McGinn, Monahan’s attorney, later reiterated what the physician stated: that Monahan constantly needs to use the restroom because of bladder issues and he has balance problems, which require the use of a cane.
In his closing argument, Assistant Iowa Attorney General Doug Hammerand reviewed the testimony of the five students who alleged that Monahan invaded their privacy while at the urinals that day.
“Why would they make this up and lie under oath? Each student said they did not know who Monahan was but they saw him look at their privates,” Hammerand said.
Also testifying was an Omaha Police Department sergeant who said he witnessed a confrontation between Monahan and one of the students in the bathroom.
Each alleged victim was from the Logan-Magnolia Community School District.
“They are misinterpreting his physical limitations,” McGinn said.
Hammerand noted that each time a student would use the urinal, Monahan would use an adjacent urinal instead of one farther away.
This reminds me a little of our 80-year-old Father Jacues Faucher, a convicted molester who violated his parole numerous times by hanging around the children’s swimming pool.
Both in their 80s and still, at the very least, out and about ogling.
The charge is fascinating. I don’t think we could see such charges laid here in Canada under “Invasion of Privacy,” could we? Does anyone know?
And look at his defence:
Perhaps he does have problems with frequency, but …..? But, FIVE biffy runs in how much time?