CdA trucker gets life for sexually abusing boys
A long-haul trucker from Coeur d’Alene will spend at least 35 years in prison for molesting boys.
Kevin Gerard Sloniker, 31, pleaded guilty earlier this year to molesting seven boys between the ages of 8 and 14 over the course of a decade. He met many of the boys and their families through Immaculate Conception Church in Post Falls.
“You took advantage of kids in an environment that should have been safe,” 1st District Judge Cynthia Meyer told Sloniker during Friday’s sentencing. “These boys will be affected for the rest of their lives.”
The victims will feel fear, guilt, shame and self-loathing as a result of the sexual abuse they suffered, Meyer said. They’ll be at higher risk for drug and alcohol abuse, poor academic performance and criminal activity, she said.
Meyer handed down a life sentence, but said she would let the parole board decide if Sloniker could be safely released back into society in 35 years.
Sloniker met and befriended boys in his role as a youth camp counselor at Immaculate Conception Church and also gave instruction to boys who wanted to become altar boys. The church is part of the Society of Saint Pius X, a traditionalist group with no canonical standing in the Roman Catholic Church/Becky Kramer, SR. More here.
