US v. McGuire, 09-1597

Former Jesuit priest's conviction for molestation of minors

US v. McGuire, 09-1597, concerned a challenge to a conviction of defendant, once a prominent Jesuit priest, for traveling in interstate and foreign commerce for the purpose of having sex with a minor, in violation of 18 U.S.C. section 2423(b).

In affirming the conviction, the court held that, if a trip has dual purposes, one licit but intended to bolster an illicit sexual purpose, the sexual purpose is "the" purpose, in a reasonable sense of the word.  The court also held that the testimony of four other boys, whom he molested, was admissible as evidence of the defendant's modus operandi and it was also admissible under Rules 413 and 414 as evidence of the defendant's previous crimes of sexual assault and child molestation, demonstrating a propensity to commit such crimes.

Related Link:

• Read the Seventh Circuit's Full Decision in US v. McGuire, 09-1597