Sunday, July 17, 2011

Order followed procedures and was sensitive to complainant

THE case of Fr Kael (not his real name) is one of the few incidences in the Cloyne Report that was deemed to have been handled correctly.

The commission found that the religious order of which Fr Kael was a part, "unlike the Diocese of Cloyne in most of the other cases, dealt properly with this complaint".

The complaint against the priest was made in April 2002 by a woman, Airell (not her real name) who claimed she had been abused by Fr Kael in August 1966 when she was aged 11.

Airell said that Fr Kael visited her at a school she was attending, during which an incident occurred which caused her to run away in terror. 

Fr Kael said he had no recollection of the incident.

It was the only known allegation made against him.

The order followed procedures correctly and was sensitive to the complainant.

"A proper investigation was conducted by the head of the order. The order’s advisory committee was properly and fully informed. The head of the order correctly recognised that he had to make the decisions. As is often the case with child sexual abuse complaints, where there is a credible complaint and a credible denial, there is, unfortunately, no resolution," the commission found.