A man who passed himself off as a priest in Tuam, Co Galway has been exposed as one of Britain's most notorious sex offenders.John Cronin (36), a native of East Lothian in Scotland, who served prison sentences in both Ireland and the UK, masqueraded as a visiting priest for several days in the East Galway town.
But people living in the rural town had no idea they were unwittingly entertaining one of Britain's sex offenders. Cronin was greeted with open arms by locals before he fled the area with a stolen cheque-book.
Gardai in Tuam have confirmed that they are investigating the disappearance of the cheque-book from a house in Tuam.
Shocked locals have described how they were deceived into entertaining the fake "priest".
Cronin is thought to have arrived in the town last month and passed himself off as a priest for a number of days around the town.
But he disappeared when some people became suspicious of his credentials as a priest and contacted the Gardai when a cheque-book belonging to a guesthouse proprietor went missing.
One of the locals said he began to suspect that the man dressed as a priest was a fake when he started telling blue jokes.
"For every dirty joke that we would tell, this so-called priest would tell an even dirtier one and this made me suspicious that he was a fraud," he said.
A local businesswoman added: "He was a nasty person and he tried to fool us all by pretending he was a priest from Scotland. I'm shattered to think that I was so close to such bad company and it is hard to comprehend that this man who seemed so plausible could be so evil."
He told people in Tuam his name was Fr Shane Cronin and that he was in charge of three parishes in Scotland.
But, since he fled from Tuam, people have been informed that the "priest" they trusted and feted is a violent sex offender who got a life sentence in 1992 in his native Scotland.
Tuam gardai said they were investigating the disappearance of the cheque book.
In May 1992, John Cronin, in the guise of a priest, entered the home of a Tory party activist and beat her with a poker before sexually assaulting her.
He was sentenced to life imprisonment but on appeal was released after six years. Since then he has been jailed on various charges from minor thefts to bank robbery.
People in Tuam took the fake priest to their hearts and some took him out to local restaurants and pubs.
He was given lodging with a couple in the town and it was only when a cheque-book belonging to the owner of the house went missing and when the "priest" disappeared that their suspicions were aroused.
"I made a full statement to the gardai and also contacted the Catholic clergy here in Tuam and in the area of Scotland where he is said to have come from," said the man whose cheque-book was stolen.
The owner of the house where Cronin stayed during his time in Tuam said the family were still shocked.
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