WISCONSIN
WBAY
[with video]
By Rhonda Roberts
Published: October 28, 2016
GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) – A retired priest who served in the Green Bay Catholic Diocese has been sentenced to four months jail for flashing a teenage boy multiple times.
Richard Thomas, 78, appeared in a Brown County courtroom Friday morning for a sentencing hearing on two counts of Exposing Genitals/Pubic Area/Intimate Parts to a Child. He pleaded “no contest” to the charges in September. As part of a plea deal, two other charges were dismissed.
In addition to the jail time, Thomas was also ordered to serve 36 months on probation and register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. He cannot have contact with minors.
Thomas told the court he “struggled with urges” and is “remorseful.” His attorney says Thomas is undergoing treatment.
The judge in the case called Thomas’ behavior “reprehensible.”
“This was a continuing event not just a one time affair, I mean this just went on and on and on and that’s, in my view, a problem, because it is once is bad enough but it continuing on makes it all the worse,” said Hon. Timothy Hinkfuss, Brown County Circuit Court Judge. “When someone’s walking to school, a minor’s walking to school, walking around the neighborhood, whatever it might be, to be exposed to this type of situation is really reprehensible.”
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