THREE WOMEN who allege that they were sexually assaulted when
teenagers by a priest in the diocese of Cloyne have welcomed a decision
by the Garda to resubmit eight files of complaint against the priest to
the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Gardaí in north Cork
investigating allegations of sexual abuse against the retired priest,
who is now in his early 70s, compiled eight complaints made about him
into one summary file and resubmitted it to the DPP shortly after
Christmas.
The DPP had previously ruled that there should be no
prosecution in seven of the eight cases and was still adjudicating on
the eighth complaint, but yesterday three of the complainants expressed
hope that the DPP would change his mind after seeing the file.
The
priest, who was identified by Ian Elliott, chief executive of the
National Board for Safeguarding Children in the Catholic Church, in his
report on the diocese of Cloyne as Fr B, denied the various allegations
when interviewed about them by the Garda.
One woman said it was
“fantastic” to learn that gardaí had gone back over all eight cases and
highlighted the similarities in the complaints made against the priest,
who came into contact with them while ministering in parishes.
“The
gardaí have advised us not to get our hopes up in case the DPP doesn’t
change his mind, but what the gardaí have done is highlight the
similarities in all our cases and there’s a clear pattern there in terms
of how we were targeted and the actual abuse,” she added.
Another
woman said she warmly welcomed the decision to resubmit the files in
the form of a summary file and expressed hope that the DPP might direct a
prosecution, as it had been very disheartening previously to learn
there would not be one.
“I’d be delighted to see him having to answer to somebody,” she added.
“He
will have to meet his maker some day but in the meantime, it would be
great if he was brought to account for what he did to us and named and
shamed so people can see him for what he really is.”
Another woman
who made a complaint against the priest said that resubmitting the file
would encourage others who may have been abused by the priest but were
reluctant to come forward in the past to do so now.
It would give them hope that the man would be prosecuted.
“I
know of two others who were abused by this priest, but they have
decided not to make complaints because they don’t think there’s any
point, given what happened our cases,” she said.
“Hopefully now the DPP will change his mind and it will encourage others to come forward.”
SIC: IT/IE