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Prosecutors: Man Created 'Disneyland' In Home To Lure Boys

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Prosecutors: Man Created 'Disneyland' In Home To Lure Boys

Man Was Foster Parent, Former Priest, High School Teacher

July 10, 2007

DENVER -- Prosecutors said a former foster parent and Episcopalian priest kept drawers full of candy, and had computer games, a pool table and a hot tub in his home that was converted into a "Disneyland" of sorts in order to lure boys there so he could molest them.

Donald Shissler, 74, is on trial in Denver, accused of sexually assaulting three young boys.

Authorities said that once Shissler got the boys inside his home, he would walk around nude, or in thong underwear and would instruct the boys to take off their clothes.

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He also allegedly engaged in sexual acts with some of the boys.

"It's natural. It's not a sin," prosecutor Kerri Lombardi said Shissler told the boys.

"This Disneyland he created came at a high price," said Lombardi. "The cost of admission was their innocence and a sense of shame that would last a lifetime."

Defense attorney Scott Reisch said the boys initially denied any improper conduct with Shissler, but changed their stories under pressure from investigators.

Police said they seized hundreds of pornographic pictures and videos from Shissler's house when he was arrested in 2002.

Shissler was an Episcopal priest for two years, last serving in Aspen in 1963.

He was also a Denver teacher, at North High School from 1984 to 1994, and a former foster parent in the 1980s.

2007 Jul 10