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	Judge: Sex Offender Put 5 Boys 'Through Terrible Torture' Springfield Township Man to Spend up to 42 Years in Prison for Assaults By Hal Marcovitz hal.marcovitz@mcall.com The Morning Call [Pennsylvania] May 4, 2006 http://www.mcall.com/news/local/quakertown/all-b1_2meenan may04,0,5934269.story?coll=all-newslocalquakertown-hed When Thomas Meenan rose in Bucks County Court Wednesday to face three of the boys he pleaded guilty to molesting, the 49-year-old Springfield Township man asked for their forgiveness and told them he still loves them. "I love these guys; I love their families," Meenan said. "They were good to me. They treated me well." That comment drew an angry response from Judge Kenneth G. Biehn, who insisted that instead of showing love to the three boys and two other victims, Meenan's assaults on the youths amounted to torture. "They were treated like objects," said Biehn. "Despite the fact that you say you love them, you do not. These are kids whom you put through terrible torture." Moments later, Biehn sentenced the former flea market vendor to a state prison term of 21 to 42 years. "You deserve it," Biehn said. Meenan pleaded guilty in June to molesting the five boys, who range in age from 12 to 15. The victims, who live in Hilltown Township, Telford and Quakertown, were assaulted by Meenan over a period of three years that ended in February 2005. According to Deputy District Attorney Daniel B. Sweeney, Meenan hired some of the boys to work in his stand at the Quakertown Farmers Market in Richland Township, then made friends with their families and assaulted the victims in their homes. Some of the assaults also occurred on camping trips, Sweeney said. Meenan has been in prison since his arrest in May 2005 after the parents of a Hilltown Township boy contacted police. Before his arrest, Meenan lived in a mobile home on Povenski Road. Meenan pleaded guilty to multiple counts of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, indecent assault, corruption of minors and furnishing liquor to minors. Meenan told Biehn that he has struggled with alcoholism for nearly his entire life. Meenan said he started drinking at the age of 8 after he was molested by his father and a priest. "I pretty much withdrew from adults," Meenan said. "I was a loner. I couldn't face people. I had to drink to fit in." Biehn said he was not moved by Meenan's story. He pointed out that Meenan served a prison sentence in 1989 after pleading guilty to molesting two boys. In handing down the lengthy sentence, Biehn said, "You groom kids and get them to accept you. People who are predators like you have a way of finding vulnerable kids. I don't know how you do it. You did it in this case just like you did it 20 years ago." Of the three victims who attended the sentencing, just one addressed the court. The boy said he has drifted "in and out of despair." The boy added, "He hurt me a lot and took advantage of me. I can't express how much pain he caused me. I have so much anxiety." One of the boys' mothers said she plans to attend Meenan's parole hearings to assure that he serves his maximum sentence. "Please judge, show him no mercy," she said. "He needs to be put away for a long time." In February, Biehn ruled that Meenan is a sexually violent predator. Under Megan's law, when Meenan is released from jail he will have to register his address with the state police for the rest of his life.
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