March 19, 2024

Catholic priest sentenced in privacy case

COUNCIL BLUFFS — A retired Catholic priest in western Iowa has been given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to register as a sex offender for invading the privacy of several students in a high school restroom.

The Rev. Paul Monahan was sentenced Friday. The 83-year-old Monahan got a suspended sentence of 30 days in jail for each of five counts.

Monahan plans to appeal, his attorney said.

The judge in the case said in December that he found credible the testimony of five male high school students who said Monahan repeatedly entered the high school restroom and looked at their genitals at an open urinal.

Monahan was suspended in July after the Diocese of Des Moines learned of the investigation.