Priest Charged with Violation of Privacy-nudity

By Joe Cadotte
KMTV
August 29, 2016

http://www.kmtv.com/news/local-news/priest-charged-with-violation-of-pricacy-nudity

[with video]

A well-known Iowa priest is accused of invasion of privacy nudity.

The priest is accused of watching five students use the bathroom in April.

Father Paul Monahan, 83, was suspended as the chaplain of St. Albert's Catholic School after being arrested Thursday for five counts of invasion of privacy nudity.

He was released from jail the next day.

Because Father Monahan is well known in Pottawattamie County, the state attorney general's office is investigating to avoid a conflict of interest,” said Pottawattamie County Sheriff Jeffery Danker.

"You don't want there to be anybody saying, ‘well, they got treated too harshly or got treated too lightly because of who he is,’" Danker said.

Monahan has a long history at St. Albert as a teacher, principal and chaplain.

He’s suspended pending the investigation and an outcome in court.

"We don't want any appearance that there may be one bias one way or the other when dealing with certain people,” Danker said. “That's not unusual."

The maximum punishment for invasion of privacy nudity is one year in jail and an $1,800 fine.

"The individual is innocent until proven guilty,” Danker said. “We go through this process and it will go through the judicial system like everyone else and we'll see what happens.”

While Father Monahan is charged with five separate misdemeanors that can carry as much as a year each, the Iowa Attorney General's office says a judge will decide the punishment if there is one.

Copyright 2016 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.