Brendan Wrixon from Newmarket, Co Cork, was accused removing a teenage boy’s clothes and touching his genitals while acting as his confessor over 25 years ago.
Wrixon is still attached to the Diocese of Cloyne, according to RTÉ, but has not ministered since the complaint was made five years ago.
The victim alleged there were around 20 incidents of a sexual nature involving Wrixon, who pleaded guilty today to a single count of gross indecency.
Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said that Wrixon was no longer a priest, and did not deserve to be one:
You violated not only the laws of the country but your own religious view and whatever tenets you believed in. I hope that the exposure of the offence and all the evidence will be a vindication of the victim.
The Irish Examiner reports that the judge took Wrixon’s age, co-operation with the investigation, and treatment into consideration.
The court heard that Wrixon began treatment when the complaint was first made, and heard reports from experts that he is at low risk of re-offending.
The victim said it had taken him 20 years to break his silence and make a complaint because of the deep shame he felt about the abuse, RTÉ reports. He said he had fought for the truth to be heard, while the clergy’s response was to protect the church.
Archbishop apology to abuse victim
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(UKPA) – Nov 12, 2010
An Archbishop has apologised to a victim of clerical abuse after a priest pleaded guilty to gross indecency while hearing confession.
Brendan Wrixon, from Newmarket, Co Cork, was given an 18-month suspended sentence after he admitted undressing the boy in the sacristy of a church in the early 1980s.
The 74-year-old is a retired priest of the Diocese of Cloyne, where two scathing investigations revealed its scandal-hit former bishop John Magee took minimal action on accusations against two of his priests.