Accused says priest used devil to cover up abuse

Tue, May 22, 2007

A Dublin man charged with making false allegations of sexual abuse against a priest told garda? he was threatened that the devil would kill him if he told anyone what had happened to him.

The 33-year-old accused, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denies making a false statement to Det Garda Brian Kavanagh at Kevin Street Garda station on June 18th, 2003, that acts of indecent assault and buggery had been committed on him by the priest in the period February to May 1981.

Det Garda Kavanagh told Dominic McGinn, prosecuting, that the accused claimed he was abused by a parish priest when aged six years and receiving private tuition for his First Holy Communion. The accused claimed the priest warned him more than once, while his parents waited in the hallway outside, that he was "to be a good boy and not say anything or the devil would get him and kill him".

Det Garda Kavanagh said the accused told him that because he was a shy child and had difficulty reciting his prayers in front of the class, his teacher insisted on private tuition.

His parents arranged sessions with their parish priest and one of them would bring him to the priest's house once a week. He said nothing happened the first week but on subsequent weeks the priest would make him recite his prayers while he masturbated.

Det Garda Kavanagh said the accused claimed that on one occasion he was anally raped and that on the final session the priest attempted to make him perform oral sex, and told him when he refused he would not make his Communion.

The man claimed he did not tell anyone at the time because he was told if he did he would not make his Communion and the devil would "get" him and kill him.

Earlier the jury heard from Fr Pearse Walsh, the parish priest for the University Church on Stephen's Green, Dublin, who told Mr McGinn he received a letter from the accused in January 2003, asking for financial assistance to cover the cost of counselling for depression resulting from abuse.

The letter also asked for book tokens to buy self-help books. Fr Walsh said he referred the letter to the archdiocese office, which dealt with all abuse allegations.

Nora Murphy, the secretary to Msgr John Dolan, who handled the complaints, described phone conversations she had with the accused after she contacted him to encourage him to make a complaint based on the letter.

She said the accused asked so many questions she was worried he was planning to make a complaint against the archdiocese's handling of the allegations. He made repeated requests for help to pay a bill for more then ?2,000 from his counsellor and wanted to know why he had not yet been assigned a "support person".

She told Mr McGinn that there had been ongoing problems with the allocation of support people and at that time there were none in the archdiocese. She said the accused had made contact with the support group for victims of child abuse, One in Four, and she had assumed that they had told him about the support people.

Ms Murphy said the accused had cancelled three appointments set up for him to come in and make a formal complaint. He claimed he needed to be "mentally and physically" well enough to make the complaint and would tell them when he was ready.

When she told him the priest he named had vehemently denied the allegations, but had agreed to stand down pending a full investigation, he said he was glad he had agreed to stand down but made absolutely no mention to her of the fact that he denied the abuse.

The trial continues at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court before Judge Patricia Ryan and the jury of eight men and four women.

? 2007 The Irish Times