Monday, May 23, 2011

Paedophile priest expelled from Catholic Church found living yards from children’s play area

A paedophile priest expelled from the Catholic Church over his vile sex crimes has been found living just yards from a children's play area.  

Bill Carney was described as a 'serial sex abuser of children' after being named in the Murphy Report into clerical abuse in Ireland. 

The Irishman - convicted of indecent assault and linked to 32 other complaints - became one of the most notorious cases in the church's history. 

Now, worried parents have spoken out after Carney was found living 100 yards away from a park in a pretty Cotswolds town.  

They expressed serious concerns after his back gate was found to lead straight onto the children's area.

One father-of-two from Northleach, Gloucester, who did not want to be named, said: 'I think it is important people know he is living here.

'There's a lot of whispering, but someone needs to speak up. This is the first summer I would have allowed my two children to walk out to the play area on their own - but now I can't.'

Carney was convicted of two counts of indecent assault in 1983. In 1992 he was defrocked after church authorities convicted him of child sex abuse.

The Murphy Report, which investigated paedophilia in the Catholic Church and was published in November 2009, pinpointed Carney as one of the worst perpetrators.
 
It identified scores of other offences linked to him in the archdiocese of Dublin - all of which he denied and none of which he has ever been tried for.

Compiled by Judge Yvonne Murphy, the report worryingly noted the former priest's 'refusal to acknowledge his paedophilia means the prognosis for a cure is bleak'.

In December 2009 Carney was reported to be running the Amberside guest house in St Andrews, Scotland, with wife Joan.

But Northleach Town Council has now been told that Carney is living in its borders.

Another panicked resident told councillors: 'I just want to make the council aware, if they are not already, that Bill Carney has moved.'  

The town council was told that Carney was understood not to be on the sex offenders register used by the UK police - because his only two convictions took place in Ireland. 

Chairman Neil Fletcher said he would be contacting the police over the concerns.

When approached in his new home, Carney declined to comment.  

A spokesman for Gloucestershire Constabulary refused to discuss individual cases.