Former St. Paul Schools Custodian Gets 10 Years For Child Sex Abuse

Walter Johann Happel  (credit: St. Paul Police)

MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (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.

Stupid statutory limitations - wake-up Minnesota and get rid of them in sex abuse cases.

“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.

So, 30 years of child sex abuse and 10 years of incarceration. How is that being held accountable? How is that protecting children from further abuse by this pervert? You get a big FAIL! Minnesota.

He was also ordered to register as a predatory offender.

Happel was a St. Paul Public Schools‘ employee for nearly 30 years.