BishopAccountability.org
	Ex-Nativity Coach Sentenced to up to Four Years in Prison By Peter E. Bortner Standard Speaker [Pennsylvania] May 15, 2007 http://www.standardspeaker.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5190&Itemid=2 Daniel M. Shields Jr. apologized to his victims Monday in Schuylkill County Court, but it didn't save him from a state prison sentence for videotaping girls in the Nativity BVM High School locker room, and assaulting one of them. With more than 60 people packing the courtroom, Shields, 62, of 30 Bryn Mawr Ave., Pottsville, sat expressionless as Judge D. Michael Stine sentenced him to 18 to 48 months in a state correctional institution, plus six more years on probation. "I can only say to the girls and their families I'm sorry for what I did," Shields, one of Schuylkill County's most noteworthy high school football and track coaches, said before being sentenced on charges of corruption of minors, indecent assault, invasion of privacy and sexual abuse of children. "I made a mistake." That did not satisfy the victims and their family members, several of whom spent much of the hearing crying. "How could you? You wronged me and betrayed my trust," said the one victim who testified. "Do you know what this did to me? Do you even care?" Stine also ordered Shields, who had wept on the witness stand as he asked his victims and their families to forgive him but said nothing when he left the courtroom, to register as a sex offender under Megan's Law for 10 years, submit a DNA sample to law enforcement authorities and pay costs and a $250 fine. Shields must report to the county prison at 9 a.m. May 21 for transport to a state prison to be determined by the state Bureau of Prisons. "There's a relationship of trust. A person who was to lead by example failed," Stine said before imposing the sentence at the end of the 2½-hour hearing, during which he had to order one man out of the courtroom and as many as eight sheriff's deputies stood to keep order. Shields failed, Pottsville police said, when he assaulted a female track team member at various times, including in his East Norwegian Township home and on a training table at school, and videotaped girls' track team members in the locker room from November 2004 through May 2005. Prosecutors filed three separate cases against Shields, but were allowed to combine them by county Judge John E. Domalakes. Shields pleaded guilty March 1 to five counts of invasion of privacy, four of sexual abuse of children, two of indecent assault and one of corruption of minors. At that time, prosecutors dropped a charge of aggravated indecent assault and Stine dismissed four additional counts of corruption of minors. "We're very pleased with the sentence," District Attorney James P. Goodman said afterward. "The families are satisfied. Hopefully, this sentence will bring them some finality." Emmanuel H. Dimitriou, Reading, Shields' attorney, declined to comment afterward, including about whether he would file an appeal. Shields' arrest in August 2005 stunned many in the educational and sports communities and ended one of the longest coaching careers in county scholastic sports history. A teacher for 40 years, Shields had been the boys' track coach for 35 years at Nativity BVM, the school's girls' track coach since 1994 and its football coach for 27 years. He was an assistant coach for Pottsville Area High School's football team for two years and served as offensive coordinator for Blue Mountain High School's football team for five years before being fired after his arrest. During his 27 years coaching the Nativity BVM football team, the squad reached the 1989 Eastern Conference Class C championship game and produced several athletes who went on to play at Division I, II and III colleges. Shields still faces other legal troubles as the result of his conduct. Two of the victims in the case filed civil lawsuits in 2005 in Schuylkill County Court against Shields, Nativity BVM and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown. Those cases are still active, since it is customary for such lawsuits to be delayed until related criminal charges are resolved. Under Pennsylvania law, Shields' admissions can be used against him in the civil lawsuits, but he will be allowed to contest those lawsuits in spite of his guilty plea to, and sentencing on, the criminal charges. E-mail: pbortner@republicanherald.com
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.