The bishop wanted his computer returned.
He
wrote to Supt Gerry O’Brien of Bailiboro in Sept 2010, requesting that a
hard drive seized from the parish house in Kill, Co Cavan, be returned
to the diocese. The computer had been taken in the course of an
investigation into a priest suspected of child abuse.
The priest, Michael Molloy, was subsequently convicted of child abuse
and child pornography, and sentenced to five years in prison. Now,
Bishop Leo O’Reilly was requesting a return of the hard drive as, he
said, he suspected there might be some evidence of fraud contained in
it.
“Computer? What computer?” was the initial reaction in the gardaí. A
cursory examination soon established there was no such computer in
possession of the force. This was a serious matter. A computer which had
been seized from a by-now notorious abuser and child pornographer had
gone missing in Garda custody.
Somebody had to be held accountable. And before long, the whole focus
bore down on one individual, a turbulent cop who had been making
uncomfortable waves, a whistleblower who had broken ranks within the
force to report on alleged wrongs.
Seized
They came looking for Fr Molloy on Sept 14, 2007. A warrant had been
issued by Judge Sean McBride for the search of the parish house in Kill,
Cootehill. This followed on from a complaint by a teenager claiming he
had been abused and filmed by the priest.
Three detectives, from Monaghan and Bailiboro, attended and searched the
house. They took a computer and a TV/DVD set, brought the stuff to
Bailiboro station, and handed them over to the exhibits officer. At the
station, it was deposited in the property room, and labelled POS1.
The sergeant in charge of the station that day was a man who wishes to
remain anonymous, but whom hereafter will be referred to as WB. The
following year, he made a series of complaints about individual officers
and operations that he felt reflected badly on the force’s
professionalism and honesty. Among his complaints was the operation of
the penalty points system, which ended up in the Dáil, and was the
subject of a series of investigations.
That would all be later. In Sept 2007, there was nothing to distinguish
him from his colleagues. A standard chart, drawn up by the exhibits
officer, detailing the flow of exhibits, noted that WB had taken
possession of the computer.
This would be standard procedure and didn’t infer that WB took physical
possession of it. In fact, the exhibits officer wrote in her notebook
that she had deposited the items in the station’s property room. WB says
he knew nothing of the computer at this stage, and there is no reason
why he should, as he had nothing to do with the investigation.
Then the computer vanished. It didn’t just physically disappear. There
is no reference to it in the subsequent investigation. There is no
record of an inquiry into its disappearance. It wasn’t sent to Dublin
for forensic examination, as per strict policy.
There is no reference to it in the file that was sent to the DPP about the priest.
The file prepared for the DPP, and seen by the Irish Examiner, does
state that the warrant, which was used in searching the parish house,
was defective. Therefore, any evidence taken from the house would have
been inadmissible.
This scenario had played out in the case of Judge Brian Curtain, who had
been charged with possession of child pornography. His trial in Apr
2004 had collapsed over a defective warrant. If such a scenario were to
unfold a few years later in a case involving a child-abusing priest, it
would have been highly embarrassing for the force.
In any event, the evidence from the parish house was not crucial. Molloy
pleaded guilty in Nov 2009 at Cavan Circuit Criminal Court to two
counts of defilement and possessing images of the abused teenager.
He was sentenced to five years, and that was the end of the existence of
the computer, or so it seemed, until the bishop came calling.
RESPONSIBILITY
After being contacted by the bishop on Sept 21, 2010, Supt Gerry
O’Brien of Bailiboro carried out an initial investigation which
established that there had been a computer. The responsibility for such
an item would rest with the officer leading the investigation, and
certainly not the officer in charge of a station where it was deposited.
According to the Garda Síochána Charter: “The responsibility for any
property seized lies with the member in charge of any such
investigation.” Yet, pretty soon, the focus was on the sergeant in
charge of the station at the time of the investigation, the turbulent
cop, WB.
The first he heard of the computer was a letter from Supt O’Brien asking
whether he had any knowledge of POS1. He didn’t know anything about it,
and wouldn’t be expected to.
What happened thereafter in the quest to track down the computer is
unclear. There is no record of any investigation into what actually
happened to a hard drive that could likely contain child pornography.
There is no record of interviews with the officer who led the Molloy
case. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that there was a proper
investigation into what exactly had happened a dangerous and sensitive
piece of evidence.
However, the process of fingering somebody to blame gathered momentum.
In early 2012, a superintendent was appointed to investigate “an alleged
breach of discipline” by WB, arising from the “loss of a computer”.
It had effectively been decided that WB was the man at the centre of the
affair, and it was now a question as to whether there was enough proof
to discipline him.
Det Supt Tom Maguire, from the Special Detective Unit in Dublin’s
Harcourt Square, was appointed to determine whether WB should be
disciplined. He would eventually report that he “carried out a full and
thorough investigation into this allegation against... WB”.
There is no reference in his report to any interviews, other than with
WB. There is no reference to asking any officers involved in the case:
“What happened the computer?” There is no reference to asking any
officers: “Why was there no mention of the computer in the file prepared
for the DPP?” There is no reference to any prior investigation
establishing what had happened.
In fact, there is no reference to even obtaining statements on the
matter from the officers involved in the case. Supt Maguire notes that
he sought statements from three named gardaí. “These statements were
supplied for the Fr Molloy investigation and were later obtained by Supt
O’Brien in his initial investigation into this matter.” The statements
referred to had actually been taken some three years previously when the
priest was being investigated.
In other words, the only statements used in investigating responsibility
for the disappearance of the computer were those prepared back before
the disappearance became an issue.
Nowhere in his report does Supt Maguire make any reference to
interviewing or obtaining a statement from the detective who actually
led the initial investigation. Under the Garda Charter, this man would
bear ultimate responsibility for seized property.
Instead of inquiring what exactly happened, the focus was on deciding whether there was evidence that WB was culpable.
Supt Maguire met with WB and arranged for a formal interview. After a
few false starts, the interview went ahead in a Midlands hotel.
According to the report compiled by the superintendent, WB was
responsible for most of these delays.
However, the Irish Examiner understands that WB disputes this version
and claims that 10 adjournments were initiated by Supt Maguire. The
whistleblower also claims the whole process was dragged out for an
inordinate length of time.
At the interview, WB was accompanied by a representative of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors.
By then, WB had been alerted by other members in the force as to what
exactly was afoot. He made inquiries into the original investigation,
and established that there appeared to be little or no record of the
computer. He was shocked, but decided to fight to protect himself.
He requested of Supt Maguire copies, statements, and interviews that had
formed part of the investigation into the missing computer. Natural
justice would demand no less. He also requested sight of case conference
notes from the investigation into the priest, which might give a clue
as to what had actually happened the computer.
Sharing this information would be a matter of course in any legal
process which involved potential discipline. Natural justice would
demand no less. Supt Maguire referred the request to the head of legal
affairs in the force. Eventually, word came back that no information of
that nature was to be forwarded to WB.
By then, WB had taken legal advice. A legal opinion, provided to him by counsel, outlined what was afoot.
The lawyer wrote: “I think we are all agreed the investigation has most
likely been promoted by virtue of the fact that ‘WB’ availed of the
confidential reporting regulations and charter. Indeed the investigation
has all the hallmarks of a shambolic exercise.”
NO ACTION
Had WB been disciplined thereafter, it is likely that a High Court
challenge could have been mounted citing unfair procedure, opening up a
vista in which the dirty linen of the case might be aired in public.
In the end, Supt Maguire decided that no action was warranted.
He reported: “Having regard to all the foregoing and specifically the
obvious inconsistency in the evidence of [the exhibits officer], the
only evidence against ‘WB’, I believe that finding ‘WB’ in breach of
discipline in this case would be unsafe.”
If WB had not been alerted by colleagues as to the actual existence of
the computer, and thus prompted to make inquiries as to what had
happened, he would have had no defence, and would therefore probably
have been subjected to sanction.
If he had been disciplined, it is likely that the whole affair would
have ended up in the media. Headlines with “whistleblower”,
“discipline”, and “missing child porn computer”, would, for the casual
reader, tell their own story. His credibility would have been
compromised, and his good name smeared.
According to a spokesman for the diocese of Kilmore, they last recorded
contact with the gardaí a week after the bishop’s written request for
the return of the computer.
The spokesman said there may have been a call from the gardaí, relaying
that the computer was missing, but there was no official contact.
Questions remain about the computer. How could it, and any reference to
it, disappear? Why, when the bishop came calling, was the detective who
headed up the investigation not even formally interviewed? And who is
responsible for property seized?
It might well also be asked whether the whole action against WB had any
real foundation, or whether it was merely as a result of WB blowing a
whistle on errant behaviour within the force.