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  Judge Orders Arrest of Priest on Probation for Molestation

By Mark Silk
Atlanta Journal and Constitution
March 1, 1996

A DeKalb County judge has ordered a former Stone Mountain priest arrested on charges of violating his probation six years after he pleaded guilty to molesting four altar boys.

Superior Court Judge Michael Hancock signed a warrant Wednesday for the arrest of the Rev. Anton Mowat after being presented with evidence that in late 1994 Mowat picked up an 11-year-old English boy in a park, took him to a friend's apartment and touched him inappropriately. The two then began exchanging letters and audiotapes. "He appeared to be 'grooming' him," said DeKalb County Assistant District Attorney Lee Anne Mangone.

After Mowat was indicted for child molestation in 1988, he spent 21 months as a fugitive and during part of that time lived in an Italian monastery. The letters to the English boy were sent from the same monastery in 1994 and 1995, said DeKalb District Attorney J. Tom Morgan.

The boy's parents reported the contact to Catholic officials in England. They contacted church officials in Atlanta, who notified DeKalb prosecutors.

The district attorney's office has asked Interpol, the international police agency, to find and arrest Mowat.

In 1990, Mowat pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison and nine years' probation. After he served about two years in prison, he was deported.

Under the terms of his probation, Mowat agreed to have no unsupervised contact with children younger than 18 and to enter a sex offender treatment program.

"He's not doing anything that indicates compliance with the court's order," Mangone said. "He is a dangerous man."

If Mowat is found to have violated the terms of his probation, he could be required to remain in prison until 2005.

In his letters, Mowat, using the name Paul Francis Scott, talks about arranging for the boy to get his parents' permission to visit Mowat in Italy, according to the district attorney.

 
 

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