Mullins: Father Michael Mullins

Irish born priest.  Ordained 25 May 1984.  Served in Archdiocese of Ottawa, Ontario.  September 1990 ACQUITTED in Ottawa on charges of sex assault of teenage boy (judge essentially ridiculed the victim because he was a skateboarder.  He also claimed to have trouble with the fact it took the lad 15 minutes to tell police that Mullins had been trying to assault him as he, Mullins, drove).  In July 1991 CONVICTED in Ireland after he beat the daylights out of a young man who rebuffed his sexual advances- Mullins forced his victim to comply.  Sentenced to 8 years in jail.  Upon return to Ottawa diocesan officials cited Mullin’s right to privacy and refused to disclose this convicted clerical molester’s whereabouts.   A blogger reports in 2012  that Mullins is living in Toronto, frequents an Irish pub and teaches English as a second language in a  college with young adults as his major students.

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Archbishops of the Archdiocese of Ottawa from the time of Father Mullin’s ordination :  Joseph-Aurèle Plourde (02 January 1967 – September 1989) ; Marcel André J. Gervais (Coadjutor Archbishop: 13 May 1989 – Archbishop: 27 Sep 1989 – 14 May 2007); Terrence Thomas Prendergast, S.J. (14 May 2007 – – )

Auxiliary Bishops from the time of Father Mullins’ ordination: John Michael Beahen  (11 May 1977 to 14 March 1988); Gilles Bélisle (11 May 1977 – 19 August 1993); Frederick Joseph Colli (19 December 1994 – 02 February 1999); Paul Marchand, S.M.M. (31 May 1993 to 08 March 1999)

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The Skateboarder

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Defence lawyer:  John Curran  Judge:  Edward Houston  Crown:

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Justice Edward Houston (the judge who acquitted Father Michael Mullins and publicly and cruelly demeaned the hitchiker/skateboarder/complainant)

26 July 1991: Priest faces dismissal

25 July 1991: Area priest jailed for sexual assault

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2012:  according to “Jimmy” – “Michael Mullins lives at Eglinton/Yonge in Toronto. He is an alcoholic who frequents the local Irish pubs and is known as the Irish teacher pervert. He frequently gets young men drunk in these pubs and then invites them to his apartment where they then discover his purpose.”

2011:  whereabouts unknown

November 1997:  Diocesan spokesman Guy Levac told reporter Ottawa Sun reporter Jacki Leroux that Mullins was “trying to build a new life and put his past behind him.”  Levac told Leroux that Mullins was receiving an “allowance” from the Archdiocese while he looked for work outside the Church.

summer 1997:  Back in Ottawa.  Officials at Archdiocese of Ottawa refused to disclose his whereabouts. When I called to find out I was essentially told it was none of my business: Mullins right to privacy was cited .

1994, 1993, 1992: Not listed in directory

July 1991: Sentenced to eight years in jail for beating and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy in Ireland

at his sentencing hearing in Dublin the court “heard how Archbishop Marcel Gervais wrote a letter to Mullins’ lawyer offering to take responsibility for the arrangement of suitable psychiatric treatment for Mullins in Canada.” (Jacki Leroux, Sins of the Fathers) Mullins served his time (about six years) in Ireland.

 1991: address for Diocesan Centre

September 1990: acquitted in Ottawa court by Judge Edward Houston of sexually assaulting a hitchhiker

1986-1989: St. Bernard Roman Catholic Church, Blossom Park (Ottawa), Ontario

August 1989:  charged with sexual assault

1987:  St.Bernard’s RC Church, Blossom Park (M)

Chaplain with the Gloucester police force. According to a media article of the day (Citizen, 14 Jan, ’87 – scroll down):

He [Mullins] plans to begin a self-defense course soon because “not everybody out there is nice and innocent and will respect you because you’re a priest.”

In the same article Mullins said he was struck by the domestic violence disputes:  “I was surprised by the number of people who turn to violence.”

1985-1987:  assistant at Annunciation of Our Lord RC Church, Gloucester

1985-86: Annunciation of Our Lord RC Church, Gloucester (Pastor Gilles Lavergne) (CCCD)

running the youth group at Annunciation (P)

1985:  Annunciation of Our Lord (M)

1984-85: Immaculate Heart of Mary (M)

25 May 1984:  ORDAINED (M & CCCD)

1982: completed degree in Theology atUniversity of Human Sciences in Strasbourg, France in 1982. (M)

Studied Philosophy at Holy Ghost Missionary College, Dublin, Ireland (M)

Approx.  1956 or 1957:  Born in Ireland

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Excerpt from “The Sins of the Fathers”

Ottawa Sun

1997

Jacki Leroux

Fr. Michael Mullins, now 41, acquitted of sexually assaulting a young male hitchhiker in 1990 after the judge didn’t believe the accuser’s story, was sentenced a year later in Ireland to 8 years in jail for beating and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy. He is now back in Ottawa and is receiving an “allowance” from his bishop while he looks for work outside the church.

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A potpourri of religious travel, talk

Ottawa Citizen

12 October 1991

Bob Harvey

……Another traveller is  Ottawa’s Roman Catholic Archbishop, Marcel Gervais. Pope John Paul II appointed him this week to attend a synod of Catholic bishops from Nov. 28 to Dec. 14. The synod will analyze the situation of the Catholic church in the new  Europe, which is being transformed by the decline of communism in eastern Europe and what the pope sees as the spread of materialism in western Europe.

The pope has called for ”a new evangelization” inEurope.

Gervais is the new president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and is one of only two North Americans to attend the synod. The other is Cincinatti’s Daniel Pilarczyk, president of theU.S.Bishops Conference.

Could it be that the powers that be in theVaticanare hoping for North American donations to finance the new evangelization?

It’s worth noting, too, that theVaticanstill has not caught up with the twentieth century when it comes to communications. The Vatican Information Service announced Gervais’ appointment Wednesday morning inRome. But as of Thursday noon, theVatican’s pro nuncio in  Canada, Archbishop Carlo Curis, still had not received official notification, and refused to comment on why Gervais had been appointed to the synod.

Gervais is expected to leave for Europe the week of Nov. 18, and will meet the pope, and visit a number of  Vatican  commissions. Guy Levac, the archbishop’s executive secretary, says Gervais also hopes to visit one of his priests, Michael Mullins, who’s now serving eight years in prison in  Ireland  for sexual assault on a young man. The visit is an example of how bishops are now openly facing up to the consequences of the rash of sexual assaults by priests and lay brothers…….

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Priests are human jailed cleric’s parish told

Ottawa Citizen

29 July 1991

Priests are human beings who make mistakes and should not be put on pedestals, some of Rev. Michael Mullins’s former parishioners were told Sunday.

Mullins, 35, was convicted in  Ireland  Thursday of beating a 17-year-old male with his fists and forcing the youth to have oral sex. Mullins was sentenced to eight years in prison.

He had been acquitted in  Ottawa  in September 1990 of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old male hitchhiker.

”We let these titles get in the way,” said Rev. Jeffrey Archambeault of Alta Vista’s Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. ”The (perfect) image will be shattered.”

Mullins’s conviction may be a chance for the priest to finally work through his problems, Archambeault added.

Mullins attacked the youth in June after drinking at a bar. The priest was inIrelandon a church-sanctioned visit with relatives.

Archambeault’s message got through to some parishioners at Immaculate Heart, where Mullins once served. ”I think he was a wonderful priest but we all have weaknesses,” said Alice Rougier, a member of the parish since 1956.

But some worshippers at St. Bernard Church in  Gloucester, where Mullins was pastor until December, 1989, weren’t as sympathetic.

”He got what was coming to him,” said an elderly woman who refused to be identified.

When Mullins was charged in 1989, St. Bernard parish leaders representing more than 500 families rallied behind him and maintained he was innocent.

After mass Sunday, many expressed regret that Mullins’s problems weren’t adequately treated before the second attack.

One St. Bernard parish council member said that the judge who acquitted Mullins in 1989 failed the priest.

”He was looking for help,” said Anne Prosser. ”I’m angry at the legal system.”

The judge found the hitchhiker’s testimony questionable because the youth, a skateboarder, did not immediately inform police of the attack. He said that in his experience hitchhikers were seldom shy.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese in  Ottawa  will investigate Mullins’s conduct. He may be dismissed from the priesthood.

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SEX ASSAULT CONVICTION; Priest faces dismissal; Catholic church reopens inquiry after Irish court jails local priest

Ottawa Citizen

26 July 1991

Peter Hum and Senan Molony

A local priest faces dismissal from the priesthood after his conviction Thursday in an Irish court for a brutal sex assault.

Rev. Michael Mullins, 35, was sentenced in  Dublin  to eight years for sexually assaulting a 17-year-old male. He now faces an investigation by the Roman Catholic archdiocese inOttawa, a spokesman said Thursday.

”This is a great tragedy for very many people. It is evident that there are very serious problems in this case, and questions will have to be asked and answered,” said Rev. Pat Powers.

Ottawa Archbishop Marcel Gervais has reopened a special inquiry into Mullins’s conduct, said Powers.

Gervais, expected to become head of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops in August, has earned a reputation as a ”damage-control man” after he was brought in to deal with charges of homosexuality at St. Augustine’s seminary in Torontoin 1984. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Mullins, a native of  Ireland, was on a church-sanctioned visit with relatives when the attack occurred. He was taking a break from an alcohol rehabilitation program provided by the church.

In the early hours of June 4, after drinking at a bar, Mullins offered the youth a ride home. Instead, Mullins drove the youth to his rented home near  Cork. He beat the youth with his fists and forced the youth to have oral sex.

Gervais has asked for information from  Ireland  on Mullins’s case, Powers said. A four-person panel will assess the case and make recommendations, probably in the fall, on Mullins’s future with the archdiocese.

Powers said it was ”a tragic mistake in hindsight” to grant Mullins permission to go toIreland. But he said the archdiocese doesn’t feel responsible.

”Obviously it was a mistake but we could not have predicted the future,” he said. ”It was believed that a visit to his family in Ireland could even do him good and assist in his rehabilitation.”

The panel may recommend that Mullins undergo psychiatric treatment, Powers said. It could also recommend that Mullins lose his status as a priest.

Last September in  Ottawa  Mullins was found not guilty of sexually assaulting an 18-year-old male in a 1989 incident.

His acquittal sparked the archdiocese’s first inquiry into his conduct. It recommended that Mullins seek treatment at two psychiatric centres in the United States for clergy workers, Powers said.

Mullins quit as pastor of St. Bernard Church in  Gloucester  in December 1989 but remains a priest, he said.

Rehabilitation prospects for clergy workers who sexually abuse can be quite good, said Rev. John Loftus, executive director of Southdown, a treatment centre for priests in Aurora, Ont.

He would not comment on Mullins’s case, but said no quick fix exists for priests with psychiatric problems. He warned against believing that a patient can be treated in several months and then released without follow-up checks.

”People will always have to be engaged in some sort of careful monitoring.”

Meanwhile, several of Mullins’s former parishioners said they still believe in him. When Mullins was charged in 1989, parish leaders representing more than 500 families rallied behind him and maintained he was innocent.

Eugenie Demers, a St. Bernard parishioner since 1967, continued praising him Thursday.

”You couldn’t have any better priest because when you needed help, you just phoned him and he’d do it for you. He’d be right there to help you.”

Her husband  Eugene  said: ”I know if I had anything to do about it, he’d be back in our parish.”

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Skateboarder still insists sex assault took place

26 July 1991

Ottawa Citizen

Jochen Kessel

There was a momentary pause of disbelief.

”You’re not lying? I’ve had crank phone calls before,” the 20-year-old said on the telephone.

He learned Thursday that a Dublin judge sentenced Rev. Michael Mullins, a former Gloucester police chaplain, to eight years in prison for a brutal sexual assault on a 17-year-old male.

”I finally got some justice,” the Cobourg man said.

In September, he told an  Ottawa  court that he had been sexually assaulted by the priest. He wasn’t believed. Ottawa Justice Edward Houston found Mullins not guilty of sexual assault.

The Cobourg man declined Thursday to have his identity made public. A court order prevented his name from being published at the time of his trial.

Since Mullins’s acquittal, the man has been plagued by self-doubt and has been harassed and beaten.

The man, who was 18 at the time, testified that Mullins grabbed his genitals after giving him a ride. He had been hitchhiking.

But  Houston  couldn’t understand why the young skateboarder didn’t tell police that he had been sexually assaulted immediately after Mullins’s car was stopped for weaving on the Queensway.

The man said he waited about 15 minutes to tell police because he was shy and embarrassed about what had happened.  Houston  said it was his experience that skateboarders are seldom shy.

When Mullins was pulled over by police, he failed a breath test and had his licence suspended for 12 hours.

Mullins was in an alcohol rehabilitation program provided by the church, which allowed him to break off treatment to visit his family in  Ireland.

”This is so stupid. He could have been stopped. There was so much against him (Mullins),” the Cobourg man said.

”I went through a lot of heartache for 11/2 years wondering if he was going to be convicted. I spent nights awake, 11/2 years in counselling. I still can’t sleep.”

He said that before the trial, Mullins hired a private investigator to talk to his teachers and school chums.

”He (the investigator) was making up stories, saying I was living with Mullins. I never knew the guy before that day. Everybody knew.

”I was harassed. I was beaten. I had so many confrontations.” He was eventually asked to leave high school because of his absenteeism, he said.

Neither Ottawa nor Gloucester police, where Mullins was a chaplain, would comment on the conviction in  Dublin.

”He had his day in court here,” said Gloucester Chief Lester Thompson.

Ottawa police and local defence lawyers were astounded at the severity of the Irish judge’s sentence.

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Ottawa priest jailed in Ireland for sexual assault on teenager

Toronto Star

26 July 1991

DUBLIN(CP) – A priest from the  Ottawa area has been sentenced to eight years in jail for sexually assaulting a teenager while on vacation in southern Ireland last month.

Rev. Michael Mullins was sentenced by a Dublin court yesterday after he pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault against a 17-year-old Irish boy.

The court identified Mullins as a 35-year-old parish priest from the Catholic Archdiocese of Ottawa.

The attack occurred in the early hours of June 4 at Mullins’s rented home in Rochestown, County  Cork, after the priest picked up the youth in his car outside a disco in  Cork, the court was told.

Mullins persuaded the youth to accompany him to his home, where they played a game of dice and had a few drinks.

When the youth refused to engage in oral sex, Mullins sat on top of him and beat him severely with his fists across the youth’s face and head, the court was told.

Two days after the attack, the victim saw the bearded Mullins at a Cork bar. He and another youth made a citizen’s arrest of Mullins and detained him until police arrived.

The teenager, who attended the 30-minute hearing, smiled broadly after the sentence and was hugged by members of his family, including his parents.

In his statement to police, Mullins said he had hit the youth after the latter told him that he was “straight.” He said he was extremely sorry for the pain and suffering he had caused the youth.

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 Canadian priest gets 8 years in sex case

The Vancouver Sun

25 July 1991

DUBLIN- A Roman Catholic priest from the Ottawa area has been sentenced to eight years in jail for sexually assaulting a teenager while on vacation in southern Ireland last month.

Rev. Michael Mullins was sentenced by a Dublin court today  after he pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault against a 17-year-old Irish youth.

The court identified Mullins as a 35-year-old parish priest from the Archdiocese of Ottawa.

The attack occurred in the early hours of June 4 at Mullins’ rented home in Rochestown,County Cork, after the priest picked up the youth in his car outside a disco in Cork, the court was told.

Mullins persuaded the youth to accompany him to his home, where they played a game of dice and had a few drinks.

When the youth refused to engage in oral sex, Mullins sat on top of him and beat him severely with his fists across the youth’s face and head, the court was told.

Two days after the attack, the victim saw the bearded Mullins at a Cork bar. He and another youth made a citizen’s arrest of Mullins and detained him until police arrived.

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Area priest jailed for sexual assault

The Ottawa Citizen

25 July 1991

Senna Malony and Peter Hum

Senna Malony is a reporter with The Star in  Dublin

DUBLIN_ A Catholic priest acquitted of sexual assault charges in Ottawa in September 1990 was sentenced today in a  Dublin  court to eight years in prison for beating and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old male.

Rev. Michael Mullins, 35, formerly of Gloucester but a native of Cork, Ireland, pleaded guilty to what the judge termed a ”brutal sexual assault” in June. Mullins drove a youth to his house where he beat the victim and forced him to perform sexual acts, court was told.

Cork police Insp. Seamus Quinlan told the court Mullins, a former chaplain with the Gloucester Police, had approached his victim at about 2 a.m. on June 4 after the victim left a  Cork  night  club.

Mullins offered the youth a ride home but instead drove to his rented home outside  Cork.

When the youth refused to perform oral sex, Mullins sat on the youth and beat him across the face and head. He then forced the youth to participate.

Mullins later drove the youth away and dropped him off at a traffic circle. Two days after the attack, the victim was drinking in a Cork bar when he saw Mullins. The youth and another man made a citizen’s arrest and detained Mullins until Irish national police arrived.

The victim, who attended the hearing with his parents, smiled broadly when Mullins was sentenced and said he was ”delighted” with the decision.

In Ireland, a judge may impose a maximum sentence of life imprisonment for serious sexual assault. The judge refused an application for appeal against the severity of Mullins’s sentence.

In a statement to police, Mullins said he had been drinking before he approached the youth. He said he wasn’t sure if the youth wanted a homosexual encounter, but took his acceptance of a ride as an indication of willingness.

Mullins admitted to police he hit the youth with his fists after the youth told him he was ”straight.”

Quinlan told the court the youth suffered from long bouts of depression and had difficulty sleeping.

Mullins’s brother James told the court he had no knowledge of his brother’s sexual tendencies.

Mullins said he was extremely sorry for the pain and suffering he caused. After pleading guilty, he gave the victim’s family a cheque for about $5,100 to pay for counselling.

The court also heard that Ottawa’s archbishop, Marcel Gervais, had written a letter to Mullins’s lawyer offering to take responsibility for the arrangement of suitable psychiatric treatment for Mullins in Canada.

In the letter, Gervais said he believed that Mullins was still capable of offering a service after treatment.

Gervais could not be reached for comment this morning after several attempts.

In September 1990, Mullins was found not guilty of sex assault in Ottawa after a judge questioned testimony from a male hitchhiker.

Mullins, then pastor of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Gloucester, was suspended from his duties when he was charged. The 19-year-old hitchhiker had accused Mullins of rubbing his leg and genitals as they drove along the Queensway on Aug. 19, 1989.

In rendering his not-guilty verdict in September 1990, Judge Edward Houston said the ”circumstances are suspicious, but that’s not enough” to convict Mullins.

The hitchhiker told the court he was skateboarding on Isabella Street  when he was offered a lift to his uncle’s by Mullins. Dressed in shorts and a T-shirt, Mullins told the 19-year-old his name was ”Pete” and he was from Montreal and was here visiting friends.

The trial in the Ontario Court of Justice was told that Mullins tried to touch the young man’s leg and genitals. A Nepean police cruiser pulled Mullins car over because it was weaving and going slowly.

The Ottawa diocese set up a commission of inquiry in August 1989 to investigate Mullins, following the sexual-assault charge.

As a result of the commission’s inquiry, Mullins was sent for counselling treatment to two different institutions, Rev. Patrick Powers of the  Ottawa  archdiocese said this morning.

He believes Mullins has been in Ireland for about two months.

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July 25, 1991

DUBLIN(CP)

A Roman Catholic priest from the Ottawa area has been sentenced to eight years in jail for sexually assaulting a teenager while on vacation in southern Ireland last month.

Rev. Michael Mullins was sentenced by a Dublin court on Thursday after he pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated sexual assault against a 17-year-old Irish boy.

The court identified Mullins as a 35-year-old parish priest from the Archdiocese of  Ottawa.

The attack occurred in the early hours of June 4 at Mullins’s rented home in Rochestown, County Cork, after the priest picked up the youth in his car outside a disco in Cork, the court was told.

Mullins persuaded the youth to accompany him to his home, where they played a game of dice and had a few drinks.

When the youth refused to engage in oral sex, Mullins sat on top of him and beat him severely with his fists across the youth’s face and head, the court was told.

Two days after the attack, the victim saw the bearded Mullins at a Cork bar. He and another youth made a citizen’s arrest of Mullins and detained him until police arrived.

The teenager, who attended the 30-minute hearing, smiled broadly after the sentence and was hugged by members of his family, including his parents.

In his statement to police, Mullins said he had hit the youth after the latter told him that he was “straight.” He said he was extremely sorry for the pain and suffering he had caused the youth.

Joseph Cuddigan, lawyer for Mullins, pleaded for leniency from the court because Mullins had pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity and the case had devastated the priest’s family.

James Mullins, Michael’s brother, told the court that the priest’s reaction to the assault had been one of guilt, shame and disgust.

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Ontario priest acquitted of sex assault

Toronto Star

16 September 1990

OTTAWA(CP) – A priest from nearby Gloucester has been acquitted of sexually assaulting a hitchhiker.

Judge Edward Houston of the Ontario Court of Justice said the evidence created suspicions but there was not enough proof for a conviction.

Rev. Michael Mullins, 33, was pastor of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in Gloucester.

The 19-year-old male hitchhiker from Cobourg accused Mullins of rubbing his leg and his genitals as they were driving at about 1 a.m. on Aug. 19, 1989.

Mullins was driving slowly and weaving along the highway, and leaning toward his passenger, when he was pulled over by two police officers in nearby Nepean. Mullins failed a road-side breath test.

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Priest cleared of sex charge

Ottawa Citizen

13 September 1990

By Sean Upton

Citizen court bureau

A  Gloucester  priest was found not guilty of sex assault Wednesday after a judge questioned the testimony of a male hitchhiker.

“The circumstances are suspicious but that’s not enough,” Judge Edward Houston said in acquitting Rev. Michael Mullins, 33, former pastor of St. Bernard’s Catholic Church in  Gloucester.

Houston said he found inconsistencies in testimony from the 19-year-old hitchhiker, who had accused Mullins of rubbing his leg and genitals as they drove along the Queensway on Aug. 19, 1989.

Mullins was suspended from his duties at the parish when he was charged. The archdiocese launched its own investigation of Mullins but the four-man commission has yet to make a report.

Rev. Gilles Lavergne, director of communications for the archdiocese, said he would consult with the archbishop before commenting on Mullins’s future.

The trial in the Ontario Court of Justice was told that Mullins approached the young man on  Isabella Street  and asked directions. The man, from Cobourg, had been skateboarding with friends and planned to hitchhike to his uncle’s home west of Ottawa.

Mullins, dressed in shorts and a T- shirt, asked him where he was going and said he would drive him at least part of the way to his uncle’s. Mullins identified himself as “Pete” and told him he was from  Montreal  and just visiting friends in  Ottawa, the hitchhiker said.

As they headed west, Mullins began touching him and the young man told him to stop and pushed’ his arm away, he said. At that point Mullins was pulled over by  Nepean police because he was driving slowly and weaving.

Mullins failed a breath test and had his licence suspended for 12 hours.

The hitchhiker spoke to police several times while they were making arrangements for someone to pick up the car, but did not tell police about the alleged assault for at least 15 minutes.

He said he waited because he was shy and embarrassed about what had happened in the car.

But Houston said he could not understand why the hitchhiker would not tell police immediately about the assault. He said the young man showed no shyness during his testimony Wednesday and that, in his experience, skateboarders are seldom shy.

Mullins did not testify. After the verdict, Mullins declined comment except to say: “I believe the judge was correct in his decision.”

The hitchhiker was visibly upset by the verdict.

“I know the truth,” he said. “That’s all that matters to me. ”

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Parishioners rally behind priest facing sex charge

The Ottawa Citizen

26 August 1989

Randy Boswell

Parishioners of Father Michael Mullins, the Gloucester Catholic priest charged Aug. 19 with sexual assault, have pledged their support for the 32-year-old clergyman.

“He is a man of sterling character,” said a press release issued Friday by members of the St. Bernard parish council. “We wait with open hearts and open arms for the return of our Pastor.”

The statement was adopted at a special meeting of about 20 parish leaders Thursday night. The stand in support of Mullins was unanimous, said council president Daniel Rivet.

“We feel the charges laid against him are false,” said Rivet. “We still want him back in our parish when this is all over.”

Mullins, who is also the Gloucester police chaplain, was charged as a result of an incident early last Saturday morning.

An 18-year-old male got into a car near Bank and Isabella streets and was driven west along the Queensway.  Ottawa  police say the passenger was assaulted by the driver.

Mullins, who was ordained in 1984 and appointed pastor of St. Bernard’s in February 1987, is to appear in court Monday.

The Ottawa Archdiocese has undertaken its own investigation of Mullins, who has been suspended from the parish.

Rivet said he believed the charge against Mullins is wrong because “he’s not the sort of person who would do such a thing.”

Since adopting the stand in support of Mullins, Rivet said he and other parish leaders have received many calls in support of the decision from among the estimated 550 families who attend the St. Bernard Street church.

Rivet said parishioners have planned only one other way of assisting their priest.

“We’re all praying for Father Michael.”

Mullins: Appears Monday

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Assault inquiry new church policy: officials

The Ottawa Citizen

23 August 1989

David Scanlan

The Ottawa diocese’s swift action in setting up a commission to investigate a Gloucester priest charged with sexual assault, is in keeping with a new policy set by Canadian bishops, church officials say.

Archbishop Joseph-Aurele Plourde announced Monday a commission of inquiry would investigate Rev. Michael Mullins, who was charged Saturday with sexual assault.

This is precisely what the Catholic bishops requested when they established guidelines for dealing with sexual assault last year, said Rev. Frank Morrisey, who helped draft the guidelines.

He said the committee is proof Plourde is taking the matter seriously, without infringing on Mullins’s right to defend himself.

“That’s the purpose of this exactly, to give the guy a chance to be heard. At this stage, it’s just a preliminary inquiry to see if there is any smoke, let alone any fire,” said Morrisey, a canon law professor at Saint Paul  University.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued guidelines last summer to help deal with complaints of sexual abuse. The guidelines are optional, and many dioceses have adopted their own policies, based on the bishops’ blueprint.

As the number of charges against Catholic priests in Canada mounts, parishioners have been complaining the church has been silent and ignored allegations of sexual abuse involving priests.

If the church did nothing, it was often because it didn’t know how to deal with the problem, said Michel Theriault, a canon law professor at  Saint Paul.

Mullins, 32, has been suspended from his St. Bernard parish and won’t be allowed to hear confession or preach until the investigation is finished, Plourde said.

Mullins, who is also the Gloucester police chaplain, was charged Saturday and is to appear in court Monday. He has not been removed as police chaplain.

He was charged as a result of an incident early Saturday. An 18-year-old male got into a car near Bank and Isabella streets and was driven west along the Queensway. Ottawa police say the passenger was assaulted by the driver.

The four-member commission, headed by diocesan chancellor Msgr. Roger Morin, will begin meetings today to “find out the facts of the case,” Plourde said. The group also plans to meet with the victim.

Parishioners have been shocked at the charges. They say Mullins is a fine priest and they doubt he’d be involved in any assault.

The Ottawa diocese set up its own procedure for dealing with sexual assault complaints following the charges against Rev. Dale Crampton, a Nepean priest who was sentenced in 1986 to eight months in jail for sexually assaulting altar servers.

The Ottawa policy hasn’t been used since Crampton’s case.

Theriault said the commission doesn’t duplicate the court process. But he said the church must decide how to help and, if necessary, punish Mullins, independent of the legal system.

If Mullins is found guilty, Plourde has several options, ranging from suspension to removing all of his privileges as a priest. If acquitted, Mullins has a right to his job back, though not necessarily in the same parish, Theriault said.

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Church probes sex charge; Gloucester priest faces suspension after assault charge laid

The Ottawa Citizen

22 August 1989 

David Scanlan

The Ottawa Archdiocese has launched its own investigation into Rev. Michael Mullins, a Gloucester Catholic priest who has been charged with sexual assault.

Archbishop Joseph-Aurele Plourde said Monday a four-member commission of inquiry will report to him when it has completed the investigation. Once Mullins’s case has gone through the courts, Plourde will then decide what action — if any — to take.

Mullins, 32, has been suspended from his St. Bernard parish and won’t be allowed to hear confession or preach until the investigation is finished, Plourde said.

Mullins, who is also the Gloucester police chaplain, was charged Saturday and is to appear in court Monday. He has not been removed as police chaplain.

Plourde’s swift action doesn’t prejudice Mullins’s right to defend himself and the priest must be presumed innocent, the archbishop said at a press conference Monday.

“(But) I must act in the interests of the faithful entrusted to my care,” Plourde added.

Catholic parents in various dioceses in Canada have complained recently about the church’s silence following sexual abuse charges against priests.

At least 29 priests, former priests or Catholic church officials have been charged with sexual offences since January.

The charge against Mullins was laid as a result of an incident early Saturday. Supt. Bob Kelly said an 18-year-old male got in a car near the corner of Isabella and Bank streets at about 1:15 a.m. The man was driven west along the Queensway. He said the passenger was indecently assaulted by the driver.

Kelly said Nepean police pulled the car over near Pinecrest Road after they noticed it was being driven erratically.

Plourde said he was surprised and saddened when he was told about the charges against Mullins Saturday.

“There can be no greater shock for a bishop,” than to have one of his priests charged, said Plourde.

He said the inquiry will be headed by Msgr. Roger Morin, the chancellor of the diocese. The commission, which also includes a psychiatrist and a lawyer, will set out “to find the facts,” Plourde said.

Plourde said he spoke to Mullins Saturday. “He was very sad, naturally,” he said.

Mullins would likely be reinstated at St. Bernard’s if he’s acquitted, though no decision will be made without consulting parishioners, Plourde said. Mullins said mass at St. Bernard’s Sunday.

Parishioners reacted with shock and disbelief when they found out their young priest had been charged.

“I don’t believe it. It’s not true,” said one parishioner, who has been attending St. Bernard’s parish for 30 years. About 550 families attend the bilingual parish.

Another parishioner, who also asked her name not be published, said Mullins is fine young priest.

Mullins was ordained in the Ottawa diocese May 25, 1984. He was a parish priest at Immaculate Heart of Mary on Alta Vista Drive until 1985, when he moved to Annunciation of Our Lord parish on Ogilvie Road. He was appointed pastor at St. Bernard’s in Blossom Park in February 1987.

Mullins, an Irish native, studied philosophy at Holy Ghost Missionary College in Dublin before completing a degree in theology at the University of Human Sciences in Strasbourg, France in 1982.

The diocesan panel of inquiry will meet for the first time Wednesday. The other members are: Ottawa lawyer Adrian Hewitt, Dr. Jean-Yves Gosselin, director of in-patient psychiatric services at the Ottawa General Hospital and another health professional, likely a woman, who has not been named.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops instructed each diocese to set up a team to investigate any sexual abuse complaints in March, 1988.

A procedure was established in the Ottawa diocese after charges were laid against Rev. Dale Crampton. Crampton was sentenced to eight months in jail in 1986 for sexually assaulting seven altar servers.

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Canadian Press

August 22, 1989  21.18 EDT

OTTAWA(CP)

The Ottawa diocese’s swift decision to investigate a priest from nearby Gloucester charged with sexual assault follows new guides set last year by Canadian Roman Catholic church officials.

Archbishop Joseph-Aurele Plourde has announced a commission of inquiry to investigate Rev. Michael Mullins, a police chaplain and parish priest who was charged Saturday with sexual assault.

That action follows new guides for dealing with sexual assault, said Rev. Frank Morrisey, who helped draft the policy.

He said the commission is proof Plourde is taking the matter seriously, without infringing on Mullins’s right to defend himself.

“That’s the purpose of this exactly, to give the guy a chance to be heard. At this stage, it’s just a preliminary inquiry to see if there is any smoke, let alone any fire,” said Morrisey, a canon law professor at Saint Paul University in Ottawa.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops issued the guides last summer to help deal with complaints of sexual abuse. The guides are optional, and many dioceses have adopted their own policies based on the blueprint developed by the bishops.

One recommendation was that an archbishop act within 24 hours of learning of a potential problem.

As the number of charges against Catholic priests in Canada mounts, parishioners have complained the church is silent and ignores allegations of sexual abuse involving priests. About 29 charges have been laid against Roman Catholic priests, former priests or former church officials within the last year.

AVOIDED PROBLEM

If the church did nothing, it was often because it didn’t know how to deal with the problem, said Michel Theriault, another professor of canon law at  Saint Paul.

“They didn’t know what to do. So they avoided the situation, hoping it would go away. (The guides) help offset this, without giving the impression nothing was being done,” said Theriault.

Mullins, 32, has been suspended from his St. Bernard parish and is not allowed to hear confession or preach until the investigation is finished, Plourde said.

Mullins, who is also theGloucesterpolice chaplain, was charged Saturday and is to appear in court Monday. He is still police chaplain.

He was charged after police noticed a car swerving on the city’s main thoroughfare. An 18-year-old male was with the driver.

The four-member commission, headed by diocesan chancellor Msgr. Roger Morin, is to meet today, Plourde said.

The Ottawa diocese set up its own procedure for dealing with sexual assault complaints following the charges against Rev. Dale Crampton, a priest from nearbyNepeanwho was sentenced in 1986 to eight months in jail for sexually assaulting altar servers.

The policy is now being changed.

Rev. Gilles Lavergne, a spokesman for the  Ottawa  diocese, said the Ottawa policy dealt with complaints by parishioners about incidents involving children. Mullins’ case is different because police acted before the diocese knew of the incident, he said.

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Priest takes to the streets as Gloucester police chaplain

The Ottawa Citizen

14 January 1987 

Janet McFarland

When Rev. Michael Mullins finishes a day’s work in his Gloucester parish, he steps out of his church and into a different world.

He says it is a world of surprising violence, but also a world of new insights and understanding.

It is the world seen from inside a police cruiser.

“I find it invigorating. I’m seeing so many more levels of life,” said Mullins, 30, as he rode in a police cruiser on a Sunday afternoon patrol.

Mullins, who became a Roman Catholic priest in 1984, hadn’t even ridden in a cruiser before this summer, when theGloucesterforce began its chaplaincy program. There is also a Protestant minister working with the department.

Although apprehensive at first, Mullins says he’s now comfortable going on calls with officers and patrolling the streets at night.

“I think the thing that most struck me was the domestic disputes. I was surprised and saddened by the number of people who turn to violence.”

However, he said seeing domestic disputes up close has helped him understand and counsel families who come to him in his parish with problems.

“It helps me to understand the trauma of a family breaking apart and the pain of a family member being abused, sometimes for years, by another member of the family.”

Although he is not involved in violent arrests and must stay in the cruiser when there is a suspicion of guns being used, Mullins is taking steps to protect himself.

He plans to begin a self-defense course soon because “not everybody out there is nice and innocent and will respect you because you’re a priest.”

A soft-spoken man with a quiet sense of humor, Mullins says many police and priestly duties go hand-in-hand, and there are times when it helps to have a man of the cloth with the police officer.

For example, one evening a woman who had been drinking was arrested in a violent mood. Mullins rode in the back seat with her and she calmed down when she saw he was a priest.

“The only way to control her was to sing Scottish songs all the way back to the police station,” he laughs.

The police chaplain program was the idea of Gloucester police Chief Lester Thompson, who approached Archbishop Joseph-Aurele Plourde with a proposal to set up the program.

While admitting both he and the police officers were guarded at first, Mullins said the officers now accept him and are relaxed around him, talking about their families and their jobs and in the process becoming good friends.

Gloucester Const. John Gardiner agrees.

“The response has been very good. I’ve never heard anybody yet grumble.

” Instead they ask who gets to go out with him tonight. “