Rev. GetMeOff
Posted on 10/12/2013 7:39:02 PM PDT by delchiante
UPDATED AT 6:40 P.M.
CLEVELAND,Ohio -- The Rev. James McGonegal,pastor of a West Side Cleveland Catholic church,was charged today with soliciting sex while being HIV-positive. He had been arrested Friday in Edgewater Park.
In the incident report released today,an off-duty Cleveland Metroparks ranger said McGonegal offered the ranger $50 to help him “get off,” then exposed himself and masturbated,all while sitting inside his late-model Jeep SUV.
The report said McGonegal had three sex devices in his Jeep when he was arrested around 12:45 p.m.
The priest,68,was released on personal bond from Cleveland City Jail this morning other media reports said. He has not been arraigned as the charges were not filed until around noon.
McGonegal has been pastor at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church,at Lorain Avenue and West Boulevard,since the mid-1980s. He has been a priest since 1971.
At a mass this evening at the church,the only mention of the incident was at the start when a lector greeted the 140 people in attendance and said,"Today we pray for this parish,and our pastor." A priest in residence at St. Ignatius said the mass.
St. Ignatius was on the chopping block in March 2009,when the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland decided to close a number of parishes. St. Ignatius parishioners and their pastor,however,were able to convince Bishop Richard Lennon to keep open the church,which has a towering steeple that can be seen from many parts of the city's West Side.
After the mass,parishioners approached for comment declined to talk.
McGonegal was also charged with public indecency and abusing harmful intoxicants.
The report said inside the Jeep was a bottle that contained an intoxicant. During questioning after his arrest,the priest said he bought the product at a sex shop and smells the contents to get “a buzz.”
Later Friday,McGonegal told workers at the jail that he is HIV-positive, the report said.
The report said McGonegal made eye contact with the ranger as the priest drove his black SUV into a parking lot at Edgewater. The ranger was off-duty and wearing civilian clothes.
The ranger said he walked to a trail,then looked back and saw that McGonegal had rolled down the driver-side window of the Jeep,and was tapping on the door frame and waiving at him.
The ranger wrote that he continued walking until he was out of sight, waited two minutes,then headed back.
By then,the report said,McGonegal was pulling out to leave the area, but returned to the parking spot when he saw the man returning.
When the ranger got near the Jeep,the two began to talk,with McGonegal saying he was “cruising.”
The report said the ranger asked McGonegal if he wanted to go for a walk,but the priest declined,stating he knew of people who had been arrested in the park by rangers.
The ranger wrote that after he refused an offer to get into the Jeep,the priest suggested that they go to his nearby home.
The two then shifted the conversation to what McGonegal wanted and how much he would pay,the report said.
Are Catholic priests ever called pastors? Never heard that before.
I always thought “Pastor” was most commonly used by protestants.
When I was growing up it was Reverend or Pastor.
I know a guy who is going as a priest with a boy chained to his Leg for Halloween. What a bad idea it was for the Calothic church to repress the sexuality of its leaders.
Repression of gay sex for clergy shouldn’t be a debatable church doctrine with any denomination given God’s written oracles- Leviticus 18:22..... about as clear as it gets.....
The church doesn’t let it’s leaders marry and have sec within the confines of marriage and then the parishioners are shocked that they have homosexuals and pedophiles serving up God’s Word. Amazing!
Ping for later
People who can’t marry go right to gay pedophilia and homosexuality?
If anything, they have given closeted gays a vocation that gives them cover, a plentiul pool of potential partners.. and both young and older males to choose from- and this Yogi liked the picnik baskets at the park more I guess... Hello Mr. Ranger, Sir!
Apparently it has a more detailed definition than that, but I've only heard the term used as I mentioned above.
A higher percentage of Protestant ministers have been accused of sexual abuse of minors than Catholic priests.
Get off your anti-Catholic hobbyhorse.
The statistics do not bear out your bigotry. The rate of sexual abuse among Protestant ministers is higher than among Catholic priests. Among government school teachers, it is much higher still.
Last Halloween, a trick-or-treater came to our door dressed as Adolph Hitler. I'd say we both have disgustingly classless "neighbors."
Or are you one of those Protties who think anything anti-Catholic is oh-so-funny? You know, like anti-Semitism?
What are the rates of homosexual assaults on children by leadership of individual denominations, including the Catholic denomination?
I don’t believe that not being allowed to marry will turn a normal man into a homosexual predator.
I agree, however, that this policy gives perfect cover for homosexuals and would draw them.
It provides them with a respectable vocation for life, relieves them of having to explain why there are no women in their lives, gives them authority and admiration in the community, gives them access to young people.
It’s a shame, as there are so many good and Godly priests.
Maybe the author wanted to deflect criticism onto a different institution for some odd reason.
What is that saying about religion and politics being the last refuge of scoundrels....
Rev. GetMeOff
That was my first thought. Very Protestant-ish.
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