Donald McGuire Has Been Convicted Previously of Molesting Teenage Boys
CBS 2
October 24, 2008
http://cbs2chicago.com/topstories/donald.mcguire.verdict.2.847982.html
CHICAGO (CBS) ¯ Defrocked Catholic priest Donald McGuire was convicted Friday of taking a boy on religious retreats to have sex with him.
The jury deliberated a total of less than three hours Thursday and Friday before convicting the former priest of both counts in the indictment.
The trial before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer lasted 2 1/2 weeks.
McGuire sat stoically as Pallmeyer announced the verdict.
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| The Rev. Donald McGuire has been found guilty in another sex abuse case. He has been convicted of similar crimes previously. Photo by CBS |
McGuire, 78, was accused of engaging in sex with the young teenager after the boy's mother sent him to live with the priest in 1999. The now-22-year-old alleged victim testified the abuse lasted until 2003. The case went to the jury Thursday.
McGuire pleaded not guilty and his lawyers said the witnesses in the trial were just seeking legal damages from the Catholic church. But federal prosecutors described the 78-year-old McGuire as a serial molester who took advantage of his status as a priest.
In 2006, McGuire was convicted in Wisconsin for child molestation and sentenced to seven years in prison. He's appealed that conviction. He's also been indicted in Arizona for child molestation and faces lawsuits on a string of new child molestation accusations.
In testimony during the trial, two men who say they were molested by McGuire as teens testified that he convinced them that they were "addicted" to masturbation and needed to be "educated" on how to stop it.
The "education" included looking at sexually explicit magazines such as Playboy and Playgirl and watching X-rated films.
One alleged victim, identified in federal court only as Dominick, now 22, said McGuire had him masturbate just short of climax. Both alleged victims said McGuire asked them during confession about their sexual activities.
Both alleged victims also said McGuire had them give him massages that included rubbing his genitals. Dominick alleged that McGuire put oil on the boy's penis, examined it with a magnifying glass, and performed oral sex on him.
Dominick said he didn't tell anyone of the alleged abuse -- which he said took place from 1999 to 2003 -- because McGuire threatened to reveal his masturbation habits.
The other victim, Michael, 32, a fisherman who now lives in Catalina, Calif., said McGuire told him if he ever told anyone of the abuse, "they're not going to believe ... because he was religious. I was trapped, basically."
McGuire was once a renowned Jesuit. The Vatican ordered him out of the priesthood earlier this year.
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