Weld jury finds priest guilty in naked jogging incident

By David Young, The Greeley Tribune

Published June 13, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Rev. Robert Whipkey, 53, faces jail when sentenced in August.

It took a Weld County jury less than three hours Thursday to find a priest guilty of indecent exposure for jogging naked last year.

The Rev. Robert Whipkey and his attorney, Harvey Steinberg, did not comment following the verdict.

Whipkey, 53, was jogging nude at 4:30 a.m. on June 22, 2007. When a Frederick police officer confronted him, he said he wasn't wearing clothes because he sweats profusely.

Whipkey could get up to 18 months in jail, a fine of $500 to $5,000 and may have to register as a sex offender. He is scheduled to be sentenced in August.

Steinberg argued that Whipkey did not intend to show his genitals to the public.

"Don't like him; don't like what he did . . . but follow the law," said Steinberg, who added that Whipkey was not on trial for being weird or odd.

Prosecutors argued that Whipkey did break the law.

"This boils down to what's right and wrong," said prosecutor Kent Leier. "The defendant knew his actions were wrong."

Prosecutor Stephen Wren suggested Whipkey's sweating excuse was to cover his true feelings that there is nothing wrong with nudity.

"Is it really too hot that he can't put on a pair of shorts?" Wren asked jurors. "We're taking about Colorado in June."

Frederick police officer Zacheria Hahn testified that he was shocked when he saw Whipkey walking down the street completely naked.

Hahn was off duty when he spotted a nude man he identified as Whipkey walking along one of Frederick's main streets.

"I was honestly shocked. At first, I didn't know what to think," Hahn said. "I couldn't believe this man was walking down the street naked."

Hahn testified he shined his flashlight on Whipkey at which point Whipkey covered his genitals with something that resembled clothes he was holding and walked faster.

When Hahn stopped Whipkey, he admitted to Hahn he had been jogging at the high school track naked.

Whipkey's profession was not mentioned during the trial because Weld County Court Judge Timothy Kerns ruled previously that it had no bearing on the charges.

• June 13, 2008

  8:53 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  fishtanksamurai writes:

  Unless he's endowed like a "ken doll" one would think jogging nude would be kind of painful or real uncomfortable to say the least.

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