Ronald Carroll McDonald
{{Short description|American convicted child molester}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Ronald Carroll McDonald
| image = Ronald_Carroll_McDonald_pleading_guilty.jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = Ronald McDonald pleading guilty, November 1997
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date|1926|02|25}}
| birth_place = United States
| death_date = {{death date and age|2011|08|07|1926|02|25}}
| death_place = Bothell, Washington, U.S.{{cite web |url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/name/ronald-mcdonald-obituary?pid=153019627 |title=Ronald McDonald Obituary |website=Legacy |date=9 August 2011 |access-date=November 3, 2018}}
| charge = First-degree rape of a child 4x
First-degree child molestation 3x
| conviction = January 20, 1998
| conviction_penalty = 26½ years imprisonment
| conviction_status =
| victims = 8–45+
| beginyear = 1937
| endyear = October 1997
}}
Ronald Carroll McDonald (February 25, 1926 – August 7, 2011) was an American convicted child molester known for playing Santa Claus for over 25 years before confessing to his crimes. McDonald had been a prominent figure in Lake Forest Park, Washington as a year-round Santa, who volunteered his time at least six days a week to working with children, including those in the Seattle area hospitals.{{cite news |date=October 25, 1997 |title=Authorities charge ex-Santa with raping 6-year-old girl |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/article/590801/Authorities-charge-ex-Santa-with-raping-6-year-old-girl.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181006185659/https://www.deseretnews.com/article/590801/Authorities-charge-ex-Santa-with-raping-6-year-old-girl.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 6, 2018 |work=Deseret News |access-date=November 3, 2018 }} When it was revealed that McDonald had been molesting children, the news gained international attention.{{cite news |date=October 25, 1997 |title=Addenda |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1997/10/25/addenda/952b35b6-4246-4686-9384-f1d47097e3a0/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}{{cite news |date=November 13, 1997 |title=Community 'betrayed' by seedy Santa |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/medicine-hat-news-nov-13-1997-p-26/ |work=Medicine Hat News |location= Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}
Life
McDonald spent his teenage years in Salem, Oregon, before settling in Washington.{{cite web |url=https://www.ancestry.com/1940-census/usa/Oregon/Ronald-Mcdonald_26d5c6 |title=1940 Census - USA - Oregon - Ronald McDonald |author= |website=Ancestry |access-date=November 3, 2018 }} After serving in the US Navy, he worked as a janitor at the University of Washington Medical Center from 1959 until his retirement in 1982.
It was at work, in 1967, when co-workers suggested that he take over the role of Santa for the sick children, after the regular Santa had officially retired. His wife Beryl acted as Mrs. Claus, and they would visit the patients throughout the entire year. Starting in 1982, McDonald would pose in pictures during the holiday season at the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre, where he gained much of his recognition.{{cite news |last=Monson |first=Suzanne |date=December 3, 1992 |title=Lake Forest Park Man Has Santa's Looks And Heart |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19921203/1528019/lake-forest-park-man-has-santas-looks---and-heart----hes-delighted-to-play-the-part |work=Seattle Times |location=Lake Forest Park |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}{{cite news |last=Fitten |first=Ronald K. |date=November 10, 1997 |title=Shopping-Mall 'Santa' Pleads Guilty To Rape -- Sentence Could Be 20-26 1/2 Years |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19971110/2571448/shopping-mall-santa-pleads-guilty-to-rape----sentence-could-be-20-26-12-years |work=Seattle Times |location=Seattle |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}
McDonald was described as a very popular and helpful person, which lent to the shock of his crimes. He also volunteered as a child caretaker at his former workplace at the UWMC and for the nursery of Bethany Baptist Church in Kenmore.{{Cite web |last1=Gilmore |first1=Susan |last2=Clarridge |first2=Christine |date=February 27, 1998 |title='I Was Satan' -- Child Molester Sentenced To 26 1/2 Years In Prison |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19980227/2736821/i-was-satan----child-molester-sentenced-to-26-12-years-in-prison |access-date= |website=The Seattle Times}}{{Cite news |date=October 29, 1997 |title=Santa admits to molesting 45 children |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wtctAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA2 |work=Moscow-Pullman Daily News |pages=2}} Aside from his charity work, his community noted his soapstone carving talents and love for rhubarb pie. He was able to communicate with hearing-impaired children through sign language, and spoke Vietnamese to young refugees.
Crimes
After being outed by a 6-year-old family victim, McDonald had voluntarily confessed to seven additional sex crimes, which spanned over the course of several decades. While a few acquaintances found his fondness of children a bit obsessive, most of his friends, neighbors and Lake Forest Park residents were shocked to learn of McDonald's secret life.{{cite news |date=October 26, 1997 |title=LONGTIME SANTA ADMITS MOLESTING KIDS |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1997-10-26-9710260341-story.html |work= Chicago Tribune |location=Seattle |access-date=November 3, 2018 }} He was thought to be kind and caring, with an excellent sense of humor. After his arrest, he expressed remorse and immediately took responsibility for his crimes. His son, Craig, mentioned that he thought his father's remorse was genuine and that he had done many great things in his life that makes his sincerity believable; McDonald's lawyer, Michael Danko, concurred that his client's life of good deeds suggests he was a good person who did bad things, and even compared him to Jekyll and Hyde.{{cite news |date=November 11, 1997 |title=Mall Santa Pleads Guilty To Child Rape Prosecutor Will Ask For More Than 26 Years For 71-Year-Old Ronald Carroll Mcdonald |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/nov/11/mall-santa-pleads-guilty-to-child-rape-prosecutor/ |agency=Associated Press |location=Spokane |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}
On October 29, 1997, he pleaded not guilty. Danko told the Seattle Times that the plea was just a formality and that McDonald would stand by his admission to the crimes. He ultimately pleaded guilty during sentencing on January 9, 1998.{{cite news |last=Klass |first=Tim |date=November 10, 1997 |title=Seattle Santa Admits Child Rape |url=https://www.apnews.com/0cafc2e643fc0cc41a159568ffd53f4b |work=AP News |location=Seattle |access-date=November 3, 2018 |archive-date=December 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220231004/https://www.apnews.com/0cafc2e643fc0cc41a159568ffd53f4b |url-status=dead }}
McDonald said he would groom his child victims through his volunteer work as a babysitter at the Bethany Baptist Church of Kenmore's nursery, as well as during the Holiday season playing Santa in the shopping mall, and at UW Medical Center; but would wait to molest them until they were actually at his house.{{cite news |last1=Clarridge |first1=Christine |last2=Brown |first2=Charles E. |last3=Batsell |first3=Jake |date=October 21, 1997 |title=Man Who Played Santa Charged In Child Rape -- Molestation Cases May Go Back 26 Years |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19971021/2567426/man-who-played-santa-charged-in-child-rape----molestation-cases-may-go-back-26-years |work=Seattle Times |location=Seattle |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}{{cite news |last=Emg |first=James L. |date=October 21, 1997 |title=Former Santa Charged In Rape Of 6-Year-Old Cops Say Crimes May Go Back As Far As Early 1970s |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1997/oct/21/former-santa-charged-in-rape-of-6-year-old-cops/ |agency=Associated Press |location=Spokane |access-date=November 3, 2018 }}
During his conviction, both he and his family asked for the maximum possible sentence as penance for his crimes.{{cite news |date=February 28, 1998 |title='I was Satan,' not Santa, molester says; Ex-shopping mall Santa gets 26-year jail term for child rape |url=https://lmtribune.com/nation/world/i-was-satan-not-santa-molester-says-ex-shopping-mall/article_0376e0ec-8ebe-5105-9a53-eba072bd0f4f.html |work=THe Lewiston Tribune |location=Seattle |access-date=November 3, 2018 }} Throughout the sentencing process, McDonald was apologetic, emotional and would openly express love for his wife.{{cite news |date=February 28, 1998 |title='Satan' Santa Hears Son Urge Maximum Time In Child Rape Judge Gives Tearful 72-Year-Old 26-1/2-Year Sentence For Attacks |url=http://www.spokesman.com/stories/1998/feb/28/satan-santa-hears-son-urge-maximum-time-in-child/ |agency=Associated Press |location=Idaho |access-date=November 3, 2018 }} On January 9, 1998, McDonald was ultimately given the maximum sentence of the crimes he was convicted of, 26½ years in confinement at the state's treatment center for sexual offenders, a location which would make McDonald available to researchers studying the causes of sexual deviancy.
Although McDonald initially claimed to have started molesting children in 1991 upon his arrest,{{Cite news |date=November 11, 1997 |title=Mall Santa Claus admits child rape, molestation |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-morning-call/109466122/ |work=The Morning Call |pages=2}} he confessed to molesting at least 45 children, possibly up to 70, since 1937 while held for trial, but was never convicted of the crimes.{{cite news |last=Fitten |first=Ronald K. |date=October 29, 1997 |title=Alleged Rapist Pleads Not Guilty; His Attorney Says 'He's Guilty' |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19971029/2568969/alleged-rapist-pleads-not-guilty-his-attorney-says-hes-guilty |work=Seattle Times |access-date=December 19, 2018 }}
Death
McDonald died on August 7, 2011.
See Also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDonald, Ronald Carroll}}
Category:20th-century American criminals
Category:American male criminals
Category:American people convicted of child sexual abuse
Category:American prisoners and detainees