CHAPTER 19 FINDINGS: THE DUBLIN Archdiocese should
have taken action years earlier against Tony Walsh, probably the most
notorious child sexual abuser among its priests, according to the
commission investigating clerical child sex allegations in the
archdiocese.
In a section of its overall report published
yesterday, the commission says it is aware of more than 40 named people
who complained of abuse by the former priest and notes that he admitted
to abusing many others.
The report says it is likely that he has abused
hundreds of children.
The section says there is no doubt that the
archdiocese should have taken action at a much earlier stage, in 1979 at
the latest. Walsh was not laicised until 1995.
It says the first
complaints were treated in a desultory manner but recognises that
archbishop Desmond Connell acted decisively after he was appointed in
1988.
Walsh has admitted using children for sexual gratification
once a fortnight over an eight-year period, but the report says the
evidence suggests that abuse continued after this period.
The earliest
allegations predate his ordination and the first allegation as a priest
arose two days after his appointment.
A well-known Elvis Presley
impersonator and member of a singing group known as the “Holy Show”,
Walsh was described by archbishop Connell as a “confirmed paedophile” in
1995.
Chapter 19 of the report, which dealt with Walsh’s history
of abuse, was published yesterday.
At the time the original report was
released in November 2009, the sections dealing with Walsh could not be
published because he was facing criminal charges.
The way was cleared
for publication earlier this month after he was convicted on charges of
the sexual abuse and sentenced to 16 years in jail.
Walsh now has convictions for abusing 10 children. Civil settlements have been reached with 21 complainants.
His
first appointment was to Ballyfermot in July 1978, where two days later
a complaint was received at Archbishop’s House that he had sexually
abused an eight-year-old boy.
The report says this complaint was
investigated “in a fairly desultory way” by msgr Richard Glennon, who
accepted Walsh’s denial. It notes that msgr Glennon rarely if ever
doubted the word of a priest in such cases.
In 1979, there was a
second complaint from the mother of a 14-year-old boy in Ballyfermot.
The only action taken was that Fr Michael Cleary was sent to the boy’s
house to educate him on male sexuality.
The local parish priest later
acknowledged that the allegation had been “hushed up”.
The report
says the failure to deal with this complaint is not so readily
understandable. The complaint was being dealt with by different people,
who may not have been aware of the first allegation.
In the 1980s,
there were further complaints and by 1985, at least seven priests were
aware of concerns about Walsh’s behaviour. At the request of archbishop
Kevin McNamara, chancellor Msgr Alex Stenson spoke to the priests and
then met Walsh.
Walsh admitted his involvement with the young boy
in Ballyfermot and also admitted to another incident with a young boy in
Wicklow. He did not challenge an allegation involving a young girl.
He
was referred to a psychiatrist who recommended medication, electric
shock treatment or a “reorientation method to channel the drive
appropriately”. Walsh took the last option at the “lesser of the evils”.
Another
allegation surfaced that he had indecently assaulted a young girl in
Ballyfermot, which he denied. No further inquiries were made and he was
removed from Ballyfermot and appointed to Westland Row parish.
The
report describes as astonishing a letter sent by the archbishop thanking
Walsh for his “dedicated work” in Ballyfermot.
By 1985, it says,
the archdiocese knew that Walsh was a serial abuser. Walsh’s transfer to
Westland Row was clearly an attempt to avoid further scandal in
Ballyfermot.
“There was an established clear danger to children and yet
the welfare of children simply did not arise for consideration.”
In
1986, Msgr Stenson asked Walsh to reconsider his involvement in
entertainment and public appearances in the media but he continued with
his singing career.
Msgr Stenson continued to receive fresh
allegations about Walsh.
In May 1988, 10 years after the first complaint
was made, archbishop Connell and his auxiliary bishops decided to send
Walsh to Stroud, a church-run treatment centre in the UK.
He was removed from his position in Westland Row the following month.
A
psychologist in Stroud said Walsh would always be dangerous and could
not be let near children.
In November 1988, he signed a contract with
the archdiocese undertaking not to go near children or visit
Ballyfermot.
He was appointed to help in a hospital for older people but soon resumed his old behaviour.
Archbishop
Connell gave him permission to solemnise a wedding in Ballyfermot in
1989 but refused permission to tour with the Holy Show in the UK.
In
April 1990, archbishop Connell and Msgr Stenson met Walsh and gave him
the option of voluntary laicisation or dismissal. But after former
chancellor msgr Gerard Sheehy intervened on his behalf, he was given
leave of absence for a year.
A suggestion by Bishop Eamonn Walsh that
the Garda be informed “did not go very far”, the report states.
Yet
more allegations came in about Walsh and in March 1991 the Dublin
bishops decided to start a penal process. They also discussed informing
the Garda but did not do so. He was sent to Mellifont Abbey in Co Louth.
Later
that year, the mother of a young boy called gardaí after Walsh asked
her son to get into his car.
When gardaí asked if Walsh had a criminal
record, Msgr Stenson evaded the question, he noted later. Msgr Stenson’s
failure to tell gardaí about other allegations meant they were unaware
of the “bigger problem”, the report says.
Walsh was sent to a UK
clinic, where he was allowed to roam city streets unsupervised. He
dressed as a priest, introduced himself to local clergy and said Mass in
local churches.
The process to dismiss him started in January
1992, almost a year after the decision was made to do so. He fought it
at every turn.
In August 1993, after yet more allegations emerged,
the verdict that he should be dismissed was given. He appealed to Rome,
which in June 1994 allowed his appeal on the penalty. He was allowed to
remain a cleric, but had to enter a monastery for 10 years.
That
year saw further complaints to the Garda and the first media reports.
Still, msgr Sheehy advised archbishop Connell: “I think it important
that every one of us should at this stage avoid any excessive reaction –
no matter what the civil law may say.”
In 1995, the District
Court sentenced Walsh to 12 months in jail for sexual assault, but he
appealed the conviction. Archbishop Connell sought to have him dismissed
and in January 1996 cardinal Ratzinger issued a decree confirming his
dismissal.
Walsh received £10,500 (€13,335) in severance pay in
1996 and was jailed after a second conviction the following year.
On
December 6th last, Walsh was sentenced to 16 years, with four suspended,
for abusing a further three victims.
This cleared the way for
publishing chapter 19.
SIC: IT/IE