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	Ex-Priest Is Accused of Child Abuse in Arizona Defrocked Jesuit Had Been Found Guilty of Molesting 2 Students from Loyola Academy in Wilmette By Jason Meisner Chicago Tribune April 2, 2008 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-donald-mcguire-webapr03,1,2440123.story Already convicted in Wisconsin of child molestation, former Jesuit priest Donald J. McGuire has been charged with molesting two brothers in Arizona, where authorities plan to try and hold him without bail. McGuire, 77, was scheduled to appear in court in Cook County on Wednesday for an extradition hearing, but he complained of chest pains and was rushed to Mercy Hospital. Officials there said he is in good condition and under police guard. The Cook County state's attorney's office said his hearing was postponed until Friday. McGuire was sentenced to 7 years for the Wisconsin offenses but has been at home in Oak Lawn as he appeals the conviction. The Arizona sexual abuse charges are the result of a six-month investigation launched by the Maricopa County attorney's office after being contacted by the two brothers. Last week's indictment said the brothers were abused between 1998 and 2002 during visits McGuire made to the Phoenix area. They were 9 and 12 years old when the abuse is said to have begun. "The wheels of justice turn slow no matter what you do, but I'm really proud of our county attorney, who took the ball and ran with it," said the boy's father, who asked not to be named. "It doesn't matter which jail or prison he is in, it's all the same to me. That's part of the [healing] for us as a family." Law enforcement interest in McGuire first came after a 2003 civil lawsuit filed in Chicago, which accused McGuire of abusing two boys in the 1960s in Wilmette. By 2003, the Illinois statute of limitations had run out, so investigators charged McGuire in Wisconsin, where he had molested the boys on trips to Lake Geneva and where no time limit was applied to allegations by out-of-state residents. In 2007, after another civil suit was filed in Cook County, federal authorities charged McGuire with traveling to Switzerland and Austria in December 2000 to engage in sexual misconduct with a minor. If convicted on the federal charges, McGuire could face as many as 15 years in prison. As former spiritual director for Mother Teresa, McGuire offered Roman Catholic retreats around the globe. An affidavit included in the federal indictment cited letters from Jesuit officials in the early 1990s repeatedly instructing McGuire, who was defrocked in February, to discontinue overnight trips with minors. Although it's unclear how long extradition will take or whether the federal charges will be adjudicated first, authorities in Arizona will seek to have McGuire held without bail, said Mike Anthony Scerbo, a spokesman for the county attorney's office. "Even though some time has passed since these acts allegedly took place, our office can and must seek justice for the victims here in Arizona," Maricopa County Atty. Andrew Thomas said in a statement. Kevin McGuire, the former priest's nephew and the lawyer representing the brothers, said he was pleased with the rapid response from Arizona authorities and has no qualms about building a case against his uncle. "Normally, it's probably an awkward thing to go around suing your relatives, but let there be no mistake: He is a sexual predator of children," McGuire said. "He needs to be put away. To me, I don't have a choice." Contact: jmeisner@tribune.com, aahmed@tribune.com.
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