Priest with HIV pleads guilty in sex solicitation case

CLEVELAND -- A Cleveland priest entered a plea of guilty Friday to soliciting sex from a Cleveland Metroparks ranger.

Fr. James McGonegal, 69, was charged with soliciting sex, a felony charge, and two misdemeanor charges -- abusing harmful intoxicants and public indecency.

McGonegal, a priest at St. Ignatius of Antioch Church in Cleveland, offered $50 to a park ranger to touch him and exposed himself at Edgewater Park in October.

McGonegal told police he is HIV positive as he was being arrested.

According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office, the judge accepted his plea but did not enter a finding of guilty. McGoegal's attorney had asked the judge to to reconsider a 1996 Ohio law that makes it a third-degree felony for someone with HIV to solicit sex.

Prosecutors say McGonegal will be admitted to an early intervention program. Upon successful completion, the charge will be dropped and the case expunged.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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