Lowell Priest Hit with Sex Charge

By O’ryan Johnson
Boston Herald
August 6, 2013

http://bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2013/08/lowell_priest_hit_with_sex_charge

NOT-GUILTY PLEA: Monsignor Arthur Coyle, seen earlier this year at his parish office in Lowell, pleaded not guilty yesterday to a charge of sexual conduct for a fee. Police say they stopped him in a car with an alleged prostitute outside a local cemetery Sunday afternoon.

A high-ranking Catholic priest — once honored by the pope and now accused of hiring a prostitute for sex in his car at a Lowell cemetery — has been spotted cruising a local hooker hot spot in the past, according to a police report.

The Rev. Monsignor Arthur Coyle, who received the title of prelate of honor from Pope Benedict XVI last year, has been stopped for circling a part of the city frequented by drug dealers and streetwalkers, and his black Chevrolet Equinox is known to cops who work that area, Lowell police Detective Rafael Rivera wrote in his report.

“Detectives have observed Arthur Coyle in this same vehicle well over a dozen times,” Rivera wrote. “I have further observed him to stop and slow down every time he sees a single female or a prostitute in the area.”

Coyle was released on $500 bail after his arraignment yesterday in Lowell District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual conduct for a fee.

Lowell police said Coyle told them he was seeking “sex” with a known prostitute when he was stopped outside the Polish Cemetery about 5:20 p.m. Sunday.

“I asked him why he picked her up,” Rivera wrote. “He said for ‘sex’ but they had not done anything. He went on to state that he had offered her $40 for oral sex.”

Police identified the alleged prostitute as Siriwan Kongkaew, 38, of Lowell, and said she will be summonsed for a charge of sexual conduct for a fee. She told police that Sunday was the second time Coyle had picked her up and paid her for sex. She gave police the $40 he paid her this most recent time as evidence, the report stated.

Coyle went on voluntary administrative leave yesterday, and “is prohibited from performing any public ministry” pending the outcome of the case, the Archdiocese of Boston said.

“The steps taken today do not represent a determination of Msgr. Coyle’s guilt or innocence as it pertains to these charges. The Archdiocese asks for prayers for all impacted by this matter.”

Coyle could not be reached for comment. Coyle was ordained in 1977 and received the title of prelate of honor in 2012, the archdiocese said. He has been serving as the episcopal vicar of the Merrimack region since 2008.