OHIO
The Plain Dealer
By James F. McCarty, The Plain Dealer
on August 25, 2014
CLEVELAND, Ohio – A Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court judge today ruled that the soliciting case against a Cleveland priest could go forward after rejecting defense challenges to the constitutionality of the law.
The Rev. James McGonegal, 69, the former pastor of St. Ignatius of Antioch Church, is charged with soliciting sex from an undercover ranger at Edgewater Park last October. The charge is a felony because McGonegal is HIV positive, but failed to divulge this to his intended partner.
Judge Stuart Friedman released a written opinion today in favor of the prosecution’s position that the law used to charge the priest is valid, and that defense attorney Henry Hilow’s request for dismissal was groundless.
Friedman scheduled McGonegal’s trial for Sept. 9.
“We’ll be ready to go to trial on the 9th,” said Joe Frolik, a spokesman for the county prosecutor’s office.
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