A VICTIM of defrocked priest Tony Walsh yesterday described the life
sentence he had imposed on him following years of sexual abuse when he
was an altar boy.
Walsh, who received a 12-year jail term for
abusing three boys, now in their 30s, sat impassively as one of his
victims told the Circuit Criminal Court in Dublin that he smoked crack
cocaine and became a heroin addict as a direct result of being abused by
Walsh.
Judge Frank O'Donnell described the now 38-year-old as an
"absolute stalwart" after he read out a harrowing victim impact
statement in which the victim disclosed that he had first tried to
commit suicide at the age of 16.
The bid, the first of many failed
suicide attempts, also marked the first time the boy was admitted to a
psychiatric hospital.
The man is still receiving hospital and outpatient
treatment for psychotic depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Assault
Last month Walsh was convicted of nine counts of indecent assault and five counts of buggery against the man.
Yesterday,
two more victims outlined the impact of the abuse they suffered at the
hands of Walsh when prosecutors read their victim impact statements into
the court record.
Last week Walsh (57) pleaded guilty to two
counts of indecently assaulting an altar boy in a west Dublin church
between November 1978 and April 1979.
He pleaded guilty to a
further charge of indecently assaulting a boy in a west Dublin school
between January 1984 and December 1985, sparing both men the trauma of a
full trial.
One victim was savagely beaten by his parents and
sent back to Walsh's presbytery home after he disclosed that Walsh
abused him by simulating sex when they were alone. He told the court he
still has nightmares.
Another victim was first abused during
confession at his school, where Walsh would talk to him throughout the
sacrament as he abused him, later taking him to his home where he would
simulate sex under the pretext of showing him his Elvis collection.
SIC: II/IE