Former priest accused of filming teen boy inside Target bathroom stall sees his day in court

PITTSBURGH — Former Catholic priest Paul Spisak was in handcuffs and a prison jumpsuit for his preliminary hearing Wednesday.

All charges were held against him after police say he took photos of a 13-year-old boy in a bathroom at the East Liberty Target store.

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The boy testified that he was going to the bathroom and saw an iPhone camera pointed at him through the crack between the stall and bathroom wall.

When he left the bathroom, the boy said he told his dad, who then told security, and followed Spisak until police got there.

Investigators searched his phone, and say they found the photo of the boy using the restroom.

Police say there were familiar with Spisak from an arrest in 2006 in Upper Saint Clair.

They also knew him from the Attorney General’s grand jury report on its investigation into predatory priests.

According to the officer who testified at Spisak’s preliminary hearing, Spisak was quoted in that investigation saying he had a “fixation of male buttocks.”

The officer also told the judge that when they searched Spisak’s home, detectives took a number of items, including USB drives, lock boxes and a computer.

Forensic investigators are still looking into those items.

After the hearing, Channel 11′s Gabriella DeLuca spoke to the victim’s father off-camera, and he told her if anything is to be learned from the situation, it’s that people need to come forward if they see or experience anything like this.

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