In
an emotional and moving interview the 32-year-old man looked back on
his years of torment by a man he believes was protected by the Catholic
Church.
"I wanted to be a priest from a very young age, and in
fact I wrote to the bishop when I was ten and, saying I wanted to be a
priest," said David - not his real name.
"That dirty b****** has
destroyed my faith. I don't even know if anybody exists up there
anymore, I have no feelings for the Catholic Church whatsoever."
David's
dreams of the priesthood were shattered when he became the target of
unwelcome sexual assaults from the ruthless, sexual predator, Fr James
Donaghy.
His ordeal began when he was a 13-year-old altar boy and
continued into his 20s, such was the fear instilled in him by his
abuser.
David is angry about the way Fr Donaghy destroyed his family.
The
priest may be serving 10 years in jail for offences against David and
three others, but he has left David carrying the life burden of guilt
for the sins of the father.
"This never leaves you," he continued.
"When
you have this, when you have all this stuff done to you and you have it
done as a kid and you can't understand why and you fall out with your
family. You feel like nobody loves you, you feel like you are dirt; you
are damaged and it never, it just does not go away."
Eventually in
2009, it was a letter from the priest Pat Buckley to David and a follow
up phone call that helped persuade him to finally speak out.
The
case against Fr Donaghy was based on the testimony of David and another
victim, Father Patrick McCafferty - but the path to justice was not
smooth.
David explained: "We were brought into that courtroom, we
thought we were going ahead with this and then suddenly the cases were
going to be separated."
There would be two trials - the first
involving the evidence of Fr McCafferty and later the trial involving
David, who said he was devastated.
He said: "I still have bodily
convulsions if it gets too much for me in my head, and I'll literally
end up in a ball on the floor."
The priest denied all 23 charges going back 17 years.
Jailing
Donaghy for 10 years in February 2012, Judge Patrick Lynch described
him as a ruthless individual, a sexual predator who used his charm,
humour and domineering personality to get his gratification.
Two
months ago Fr Donaghy finally admitted in court to being a paedophile as
another case was brought against him. He was convicted but will serve
no extra time in prison.
As David reflects on his ordeal, he
thinks of his parents' divorce brought about by Fr Donaghy playing one
parent against the other to ensure access to David.
He said: "He
took a leading role in the family whenever they had separated. He
effectively in some sense did turn my mother against my father."