A former St. Paul Public Schools janitor who sexually abused children for 30 years was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison.
Walter Johann Happel, 63, was sentenced in Ramsey County District Court on four felony charges: one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, two counts of intrafamilial sex abuse and one count of interfering with the privacy of a minor.
He was sentenced to 120 months in prison, with credit for nearly a year served, of which he’ll spend two-thirds behind bars before he’s eligible for supervised release. He also was ordered to register as a predatory sex offender for 10 years.
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As part of a plea deal, other charges against him were dismissed.
“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 in a prepared statement. “The plea agreement spared all of his victims — especially the young children — the added stress and trauma of having to relive those experiences by testifying in court.”
In all, Happel was charged with felonies in eight criminal cases, including interfering with the privacy of a minor, criminal sexual conduct and intrafamilial sex abuse.
The first charge came in March 2014, when Happel was accused of peering at an 11-year-old boy in the bathroom at Linwood Monroe Arts Plus school, where Happel of Newport worked as a janitor.
After the initial charge, others came forward, including several boys who said Happel watched them or acted inappropriately at school, and several relatives who said Happel molested them as children.
According to the Ramsey County attorney’s office, there were 10 known victims from the 1970s and 1980s but, due to statute of limitations restrictions, only two of the cases were charged. Prosecutors charged Happel in all six known cases that occurred in the 2000s.
Two victim-impact statements were read in court Thursday.
One, read by prosecutor Andrew Johnson, was from a boy abused by Happel in the 1980s.
“Because of what Mr. Happel did to me, it has affected my relationship with my own father and other people I should trust,” the statement said. “Now, as an adult, I know the only thing I did wrong was not to tell anybody, so he (continued to) hurt others for his own sick pleasures.”
Another victim, molested by Happel nearly 40 years ago, read his own statement.
“We live in a world guided by morals. He does not,” the man said of Happel.
The man said he “tried to bury the hurt” for years, but found his own courage after he heard about the young children who reported Happel last year.
“To those affected, I’m sorry I didn’t have the courage to come forward (earlier),” the man said.
Asked what he had to say before sentencing Thursday, Happel said, “I’m sorry.”
“Who are you sorry to?” Judge Diane Alshouse pressed.
“Everyone. Everyone,” Happel said. “I don’t know what to say. I really don’t.”
The judge and prosecutor said they were concerned about statements Happel made during the presentence investigation, indicating that he thought his sexual encounters with children were consensual and that, at the time, he didn’t see anything wrong with it.
Alshouse asked the prosecutor to send a message to all the victims: “They have nothing to apologize for. They were children and did nothing wrong.”
She said they did what any child might do when told to keep quiet by an adult.
“They need to forgive themselves,” Alshouse said, before she turned to Happel to impose his sentence.
Happel’s sentence is a double upward departure, based on the sentencing guidelines from the 1980s; had the criminal sexual conduct occurred today, the sentence would have been higher, according to the county attorney’s office.
After sentencing, one of Happel’s attorneys said Happel is “deeply remorseful” and understands that what he did was wrong. He said Happel was also abused as a boy and that influenced his actions.
“Whether he was abused as a child or not is not an excuse,” prosecutor Johnson said. “It might help explain his behavior, but it was not a factor in our decision.”
Victims who attended Thursday’s hearing declined comment.
