Hiv-positive Priest Admits Soliciting Sex

Columbus Dispatch
September 6, 2014

http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/local/2014/09/06/hiv-positive-priest-admits-soliciting-sex.html

An HIV-positive priest has pleaded guilty to soliciting sex from a Cleveland-area park ranger.

The Rev. James McGonegal, 69, was arrested nearly a year ago after he solicited a park ranger near downtown Cleveland. He was charged with felony soliciting because he had previously tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

In a plea agreement entered yesterday, McGonegal pleaded guilty to the felony count of solicitation and to misdemeanor counts of abusing harmful intoxicants and public indecency. Under the agreement, he will enter a yearlong early-intervention program. If he completes the program, he will not be convicted.

McGonegal also is required to serve 50 hours of community service and stay out of all Cleveland Metroparks.

A message left for his attorney hasn’t been returned.