Former St. Paul Schools Custodian Gets 10 Years For Child Sex Abuse
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A former St. Paul Public Schools custodian was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing several young children, including members of his family.
Walter Johann Happel, 63, struck a plea deal in March after pleading guilty to one count of surreptitious invasion of privacy, after he spied on an 11-year-old boy in Linwood Monroe Arts Plus School student bathroom.
Happel also pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, and a second- and fourth-degree charge of interfamilial sexual abuse -- all of which were connected to abuse from the 1980s.
He admitted to abusing two of his nephews, his niece and a boy in his former St. Paul neighborhood. Happel's son also accused him of a decade's worth of sexual abuse that began at age 4, but the statute of limitations prevented formal charges.
"Walter Happel preyed on the innocence of children for over 30 years, and I am relieved that he will be held accountable for his crimes," Ramsey County Attorney John Choi said.
He was also ordered to register as a predatory offender.
Happel was a St. Paul Public Schools' employee for nearly 30 years.
