GARDAI investigating the abuse of an altar boy by a priest were "given the run around by Church authorities" as they tried to locate the accused man for questioning.Detective Sergeant Joseph McLoughlin told Judge Katherine Delahunt at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court that gardai located the accused after a tip-off, 10 years after first being made aware of the allegations.
The elderly priest who can't be named for legal reasons admits indecently assaulting the boy on dates between 1979 and 1983, when the victim was aged between 11 and 14 years.
Judge Delahunt adjourned sentencing until early next year.
Det Sgt McLoughlin told Pieter Le Vert, prosecuting, that the boy was abused by the man in the priest’s home, on trips to the beach and in his car.
The abuse consisted of fondling the boy’s genital area.
The priest also took photographs of the boy in swimwear and showed him “mild” pornography.
The boy also reported that the priest gave him £5 on one occasion and took locks of his hair.
Det Sgt McLoughlin said the boy’s mother had asked him some years later if he had been abused and he broke down and told her what had happened to him.
He told Remy Farrell, defending, during cross-examination, that a complaint was made to gardaí in 1995 but that the investigation “ran into the sand”.
He said the victim contacted the Garda Commissioner in 2002 to check on the status of the case but efforts to locate the man had proved fruitless.
Det Sgt McLoughlin agreed with Mr Farrell that gardaí were “given the runaround from church authorities.”
He said they were initially unable to locate the man through the residence of the Archbishop of Dublin in Drumcondra, but a “liaison priest” contacted him in 2003 and said the priest wished to speak to gardaí.
He said that a few days before the meeting was to take place, he received a call to say he would not be attending.
He said that was the last that he heard about the priest’s location and efforts to find him were unsuccessful until gardaí received a tip-off and made contact with him in 2007.
Det Sgt McLoughlin said the accused, who has no previous convictions, told gardaí that he remembered the boy and admitted touching him inappropriately.
He said his memory was not great and he expressed remorse.
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