Pedophile ex-priest makes plea to judge

WINNEBAGO COUNTY - A pedophile ex-priest makes a plea to a judge about his future, just days before his trial.

Norbert Maday is a former priest convicted of sexually assaulting boys in Winnebago County.

The state wants him labeled as a sexual predator and sent to a secure facility for treatment.

But he wants to go to a treatment home that specializes in treating pedophile priests.

In 1994, then-Father Norbert Maday was convicted of two counts of second-degree sexual assault.

The Chicago priest assaulted two teenage boys on a trip to Oshkosh.

He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Fast forward to 2007.

As his prison sentence was about to expire, prosecutors filed to have him committed as a sexual predator.

That's a civil commitment - not a criminal one - that places the offender under the care of the Department of Health for treatment.

Maday, who was defrocked by the Catholic Church, is now living at a state treatment facility near Mauston.

He remains at the Sand Ridge Secure Treatment Center while he waits for the trial.

That trial is now scheduled for February 14 before Judge Daniel Bissett.

In this handwritten letter filed in Winnebago County Thursday, Maday outlines a possible plea deal and why he doesn't want a jury trial. He also explains to the judge where he wants to be treated - and why he feels he's no longer a risk to children.

Maday, now 73 years old, outlines his understanding of a plea deal:

• He maintains his innocence but agrees to say he would be committed at trial
• He would return to Sand Ridge for treatment
• The state would not oppose his release if staff there agrees it can happen.

FOX 11 was unable to reach the prosecutor, assistant Brown County District Attorney Kevin Greene, to confirm details of the possible plea deal. Defense attorney Ralph Sczygelski did not return our calls for comment.

Maday also says in the letter - if there is to be a trial, he wants the judge, not a jury to hear the case. He writes:

"From my perspective it's not just me on trial but the Catholic Church. For that reason and because (the district attorney) used emotion and not logic, my situation was doomed from the start in the 1994 criminal trial. I really don't want to have to sit through seeing my name and church smeared unjustly. I feel a judge like yourself would use logic and the law to make a decision and whatever you find, I will be at peace with that decision."

This isn't a new request by Maday. During a 2008 court appearance, he made the same request and Greene explained why he wants a jury trial.

"I have asked my attorney, Mr. Birnbaum, to request a bench trial rather than a court jury," said Maday in court.

"Under the statute either party can ask for a jury. I have asked for a jury because I think it's only fair that the community get to make this determination," Greene said after the hearing.

Maday also asks that if committed, he doesn't want to return to Sand Ridge, but instead wants to go to facility in Missouri called the Vianney Renewal Center.

Its website describes it as a "very specific ministry to fellow priests and religious brothers who are facing particular challenges in their vocation and lives."

Maday writes he could get better treatment there than where he is now.

"I could be with a group of convicted priests to get counseling and understanding. There I could get specialized treatment and not generic treatment ... One day I would look forward being with a community of priests who like myself made mistakes."

Maday tells the judge he isn't a risk anymore and has physical problems. He says in the letter:

"I've had a prostatectomy and my sexual drive is the equivalent of a 5-year-old."

Our attempts to speak with Maday for this story were unsuccessful.

Maday's trial is scheduled for four days.