Reverend James McGonegal, from St Ignatius of Antioch Church in Cleveland, Ohio, is believed to have offered an off-duty park ranger $50 to help him 'get off' inside his SUV on Friday.
The 68-year-old priest, who later revealed he was HIV positive, then exposed himself to the man and began a sex act inside his vehicle in the parking lot.
Father James McGonegal, 68, pictured in his police mugshot, was arrested this weekend for allegedly soliciting sex in a Cleveland park
McGonegal, who has been a priest for 42 years, was also found in possession of sex aids and a chemical isobutyl nitrate in a bottle labelled 'pig sweat' when police searched his Jeep.
He told police officers that he had bought the chemical, which had a picture of a pig/man on the bottle wearing chaps, at a sex store and that it gave him a 'buzz'.
The priest was arrested on Friday and charged with soliciting sex while HIV positive, public indecency and abusing harmful intoxicants, according to cleveland.com.
He was released from Cleveland City Jail on Saturday on a personal bond. The priest has not said mass at his parish since the incident.
The incident took place on Friday at Edgewater Park around midday.
The park ranger was not working at the time when McGonegal allegedly solicited sex from him and was not wearing his uniform.
When the priest was interviewed in jail, he told staff he was HIV positive.
The congregation at Sunday Mass offered up prayers for their 'parish and pastor', according to Cleveland.com, but members refused to comment on the allegations against McGonegal.
The Cleveland Catholic Diocese said: 'Diocesan authorities have a policy of cooperating with civil authorities in these kinds of matters, and will do so in this matter.'
McGonegal is due to appear in court on October 15.
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