A RETIRED priest was Tuesday found not guilty of indecent assault.
Judge
Sean O Donnabhain directed a Circuit Criminal Court jury in Cork to
acquit Fr Dan Duane (73) of indecently assaulting a teenage girl at a
parochial house 30 years ago.
The judge's direction to the jury came on the second day of the trial.
Judge
O Donnabhain directed the jury to find Fr Duane not guilty after he
ruled, following lengthy legal argument, that he was concerned about the
delay involved in making the complaint involved.
"In my view, the delay is inexplicable," he said.
The
judge said the complainant, given her background, should have been
aware that such complaints were taken seriously.
He said he had "a
worry" over the matter and, if the jury was allowed to reach a verdict,
"I, personally, having heard the evidence, would have the profoundest
worries about the efficacy of that finding".
The complainant had
accused Fr Duane, of the Presbytery, Cecilstown, Mallow, Co Cork, of
kissing her and fondling her breast in a parochial house at a date
unknown between September 1, 1980, and April 1, 1982.
Fr Duane had denied the accusation and said he had no recollection of the woman.
She
claimed she had been invited by Fr Duane to his home to discuss a
family issue after he had heard her confession during a youth retreat.
The
complainant, who was a teenager at the time, insisted there was no one
else in the house -- but Fr Duane's legal team pointed out that his
house was also occupied by a live-in housekeeper and a curate.
Fr Duane was supported in court by a number of elderly clerics and did not comment as he left the court.