Eric Jose Dejaeger will appear before the Nunavut Court of Justice in Iqaluit today.
The Roman Catholic priest, who served in Igloolik in the late 70s and 80s, is accused of sex crimes. He faces more than 35 charges.
In February, his appearance was delayed as police were doing an investigation in Igloolik.
He has also been charged in incidents that are alleged to have occurred in Edmonton between 1975 and 1978.
Dejaeger fled charges in Canada in 1995 and lived in Belgium for 16 years until he was expelled and returned to Nunavut to face the charges.
Dejarger had already pleaded guilty in 1990 to nine counts of sex crimes against boys and girls in Baker Lake, another community in Nunavut, and was sentenced to five years in prison.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Roman Catholic parishioners were told their priest had to leave his church in 1992 because he had Lyme disease, even though his removal actually came after an altar boy’s fondling complaint, a witness testified Monday.
Mary Mignogno, who knew about the boy’s complaint, didn’t know what to say to her children when she heard the lie from the pulpit.
A nurse and school volunteer, Mignogno had helped the boy tell his parents about the abuse. The boy said that the Rev. Robert L. Brennan routinely touched him inappropriately in exchange for candy or prizes. The parents had threatened to go public if Brennan wasn’t removed from their Schwenksville parish.
Mignogno testified as the seventh week got under way in the child-endangerment trial of Monsignor William Lynn, the secretary for clergy in Philadelphia from 1992 to 2004. Lynn is accused of helping the church transfer problem priests to new parishes.
Mignogno read aloud a 2002 letter she had sent to then-Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua. Brennan — first accused in 1988 — was by then working in another parish.
“I think it’s time the church ceases to protect the bad priests,” Mignogno wrote. “The representatives of the church did wrong to cover up and hide this problem.”
She never heard back from the archdiocese.
On the stand, Mignogno broke down when she read a line about how the abuse crisis had tested her faith.
Brennan, now 74, spent several stints in sex-abuse therapy during his church career, but remained in active ministry until 2005 — three years after the priest-abuse scandal erupted nationwide.
The church’s review of his priestly status is “pending” at the Vatican, according to the Philadelphia archdiocese’s website. A working phone number for him could not be located.
Lynn is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who is of no apparent relation to the Schwenksville priest.
Earlier Monday, former FBI agent Jack Rossiter testified about being hired by the Philadelphia archdiocese in 2003 to investigate sex-abuse complaints, including one lodged against James Brennan.
James Brennan, 48, is on trial for the alleged sexual assault of a teenage boy at an apartment he had in West Chester when he was on leave in 1996. He admitted to Rossiter that the two had shared a bed, but said there was no intentional sexual contact.
Rossiter said he found the accuser credible, even though the man’s criminal record gave him pause.
On cross-examination, Rossiter acknowledged that the accuser’s family was having financial problems when he came forward with the decade-old allegation in about 2006. The accuser has filed civil suits against the archdiocese, Lynn, other church officials and even Rossiter.
The criminal trial is expected to last another three weeks.
On Friday, the Philadelphia archdiocese barred five suspended priests from ministry over sexual-abuse allegations or inappropriate behavior around children, and returned three to ministry. Another 17 remain under investigation. Six of those cases remain in the hands of law-enforcement officials more than a year after the priests were suspended, Archbishop Charles Chaput said.
The Philadelphia archdiocese has about 800 active priests.
____________________________
Testimony: Catholic official who led abuse investigations in Philadelphia had little training
The Republic (Columbus, Indiana)
07 May 2012
MARYCLAIRE DALE Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA — A Roman Catholic church official charged with handling child sexual-abuse complaints for more than a decade had little to no training on how to conduct the sensitive investigations, a jury heard Monday.
Monsignor William Lynn, 61, faces years in prison for allegedly helping the church keep accused predators in jobs around children. Excerpts of testimony from his 2004 testimony before a grand jury were read in court Monday during his child-endangerment trial.
In his testimony, Lynn said he attended at most a workshop or two on the sexual abuse of minors, but otherwise had no training on how to interview the priests, their accusers or other potential witnesses.
Lynn said a case he investigated in 1994 led him to scrutinize secret archives kept by the Philadelphia Archdiocese. Lynn, on the job two years, had wanted “to make sure we don’t have anybody in ministry that shouldn’t be.”
Then secretary for clergy, he prepared a list of 35 accused priests, including three diagnosed pedophiles and a dozen more he deemed “guilty,” mostly because they admitted the abuse.
Lynn gave the list to Cardinal Anthony Bevilacqua, but the cardinal ordered it shredded, defense lawyers have told jurors.
Bevilacqua, a civil and canon lawyer, led the archdiocese of 1.5 million Catholics from 1988 to 2003. A grand jury in 2005 rebuked him for leaving dozens of credibly accused priests in ministry, but no charges were filed. A number of the named priests were then removed from ministry, and some were defrocked.
One such priest was the Rev. Thomas J. Smith, who by 2002 was the church’s regional administrator for Delaware County. He rose to the position despite griping for years, across several parishes, about his behavior around boys.
A man testified Monday that Smith had made him undress when he played Jesus as an eighth-grader in a Passion play. The priest would pin a loincloth on the naked boy. He was then whipped, suffering welts and bruises, during more than a dozen performances, to make the play seem more “authentic.”
When he complained to the archdiocese in 2002, Lynn told him that Smith was a friend and a high-ranking church official, the man testified. Smith was not removed until 2005. He was defrocked in 2007. A message left at a possible phone number for him in Berks County was not immediately returned Monday.
In earlier testimony, a woman said her Schwenksville parish was told their priest was leaving in 1992 because he had Lyme disease, when she knew his removal followed an altar boy’s fondling complaint.
On cross-examination, Rossiter said the man’s family had money problems when they came forward with the decade-old allegation about Brennan.
Mary Mignogno said she didn’t know what to say to her children when she heard the lie from the pulpit.
A nurse and school volunteer, Mignogno had helped the boy tell his parents about the abuse. The boy said that the Rev. Robert L. Brennan routinely touched altar boys inappropriately in exchange for candy or prizes.
Mignogno read aloud a 2002 letter she had sent to Bevilacqua. Brennan — first accused in 1988 — was by then working in another parish.
“I think it’s time the church ceases to protect the bad priests,” Mignogno wrote. “The representatives of the church did wrong to cover up and hide this problem.”
She never heard back.
On the stand, Mignogno broke down when she read a line about how the abuse crisis had tested her faith.
Brennan, now 74, spent several stints in sex-abuse therapy during his church career but remained in active ministry until 2005. The Vatican’s review of his priestly status is pending, according to the Philadelphia archdiocese’s website. A working phone number for him could not be located.
Lynn is on trial with the Rev. James Brennan, who is of no apparent relation to the Schwenksville priest.
Earlier Monday, former FBI agent Jack Rossiter testified about being hired by the archdiocese in 2003 to investigate abuse complaints, including one lodged against James Brennan.
James Brennan, 48, is charged with molesting a teenage boy in 1996. He admitted sharing a bed with the teen but denied any sexual contact, Rossiter said.
Rossiter said he found the accuser credible, despite the man’s criminal record.
On cross-examination, Rossiter acknowledged the accuser’s family was having financial problems when he came forward in about 2006. The accuser has since sued the archdiocese, Lynn and even Rossiter.
Jeyapaul is accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 2004 when he was parish priest of Blessed Sacrament Church in Minnesota, U.S.
UCAN India
Posted on May 5, 2012, 8:23 AM
By Rita Joseph
New Delhi:A Delhi court hearing the extradition case of former priest Joseph Palanivel Jeyapaul, charged with sexual assault of a minor in the United States, adjourned the case until May 18.
No hearing took place as Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Amit Bansal in whose court the trial is taking place was on leave Friday.
Jeyapaul is accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 2004 when he was parish priest of Blessed Sacrament Church in Minnesota, U.S.
The 57-year-old former clergyman, who was suspended by Ootacamund diocese following a canonical trial, has repeatedly denied the charges.
Foreign priests are invited to the United States to fill in the shortage of priests there.
At the previous hearing on April 4, the priest’s counsel Bhivani Mohan filed an application seeking discharge of the case on the ground that the allegation is “baseless” and the arrest “illegal.”
He argued that Jeyapaul’s arrest on March 16 in Tamil Nadu’s Erode district following an Interpol alert was illegal as no arrest warrant was served on him.
Special Public Prosecutor Navin Krishna Giri had sought time to answer the charge and the magistrate had fixed April 21 for the next hearing.
However, the case was not taken up on that date as the magistrate was on leave.
According to the prosecution case, India has signed an extradition treaty with the United States and that after due process of law, the priest will be extradited.
In July last year, Crookston diocese where Jeyapaul worked from September 2004 to August 2005 agreed to pay a US$750,000 settlement to the alleged victim.
According the law of the land, employers are responsible for their employees’ actions.
On April 30 another Indian priest Sleeva Raju Policetti, who was charged with 20 counts of criminal sexual assault and abuse of a 16-year-old Chicago girl and awaiting extradition, was set free.
Cook County prosecutors said that they are ending their decade-long effort to extradite Policetti as his alleged victim did not want to pursue the case any more.
According to a Chicago Tribune report, its investigations have found that since 1985, at least 32 Roman Catholic priests in the U.S. have absconded to foreign countries while facing criminal charges or investigations. Only five have been returned to face trial.
According to the above report RCMP is waiting for information from Nova Scotia. Previous reports in early April indicated that there is another charge from Nova Scotia involving one of the current complainants, and also that there was a possibility of charges from New Brunswick.Smith is currently facing 62 charges from at least 11 complainants.
I wonder if, aside the additional charge related to a current complainant, there are more charges from Nova Scotia? I wonder too if there is anything in the offing from New Brunswick?
We shall see. But, oh my, this is so terribly frustrating for the complainants and their families. Keep them all in your prayers.
Most people think that once there is a court date it is trial time. Once upon a time I would have been included in those ranks. Those who follow the site now know, as do I, that that alas is not at all the case. In Canada it usually takes at least a year, usually more, from the time charges are laid until trial – the intervening months are what I call the revolving door, with what seems like court date after court date, adjournment after adjournment, and regardless the circumstance each court date over in the twinkle of an eye, and usually without the presence of the accused.
There has to be better way. I don’t pretend to know what it is, but there has to be a better and more efficient way to handle these cases.
*****
I nearly missed this. Oblate priest and former fugitive from justice Father Eric Dejaeger had a court date in Iqaluit today, to file formal indictment. I hadn’t posted the date in the Legal Calendar so nearly missed it. I strongly rely on the Legal Calendar to keep on top of things – if for whatever reason I fail to enter a court date then I miss it. I do try to enter new dates in Legal Calender immediately, but sometimes I miss. If you ever notice a date missing from the calendar please let me know.
I will be interested in hearing the outcome of today’s hearing. I do believe that Malcolm Kempt, Dejaeger’s new lawyer, will beg for time. Given that Dejaeger’s former lawyer Andrew Mahar was appointed to the bench at the beginning of March Dejaeger had to retain a new lawyer. As much as I hate to say it, I really don’t think Kempt has had enough time to get himself up to speed on the case.
And then of course there is the fact that the RCMP investigation in Igloolik was on-going even in mid March. As I blogged before, IF at the 11th hour there are further charges from that investigation, or IF at the 11th hour there is a stack of relevant documentation turned over to the Crown, then the Crown will have to beg for more time.
So, given the circumstances, I do think it’s highly possible if not probable that today’s hearing will be rescheduled. But we may just get a sense of what has been happening with the RCMP investigation
When the case against a Roman Catholic priest is called in Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador next month the number of charges against him will increase.
The provincial Crown’s office is waiting for information from Nova Scotia to make its way into this province’s court system before proceeding with the case against George Ansel Smith.
Smith, 74,has been charged with 62-sex-related offences that are alleged to have occurred in six communities in this province from 1969 to 1989.
Smith wasn’t in Supreme Court in Corner Brook when his matter was called on Monday.
His arraignment will take place on June 4 at 10 a.m.
An organisation which represents more than 850 priests in Ireland have been meeting on Monday to discuss the future direction of the Catholic Church.
The Vatican has recently criticised leading members of the Association of Catholic Priests (ACP) for expressing views which contradict Church teaching.
The ACP meeting comes at a turbulent time for the Church in Ireland.
Its leader, Cardinal Sean Brady, is facing calls to resign over his handling of a clerical sex abuse case.
Change
The ACP meeting, entitled “Towards an Assembly of the Irish Catholic Church”, has been taking place at hotel in Dublin.
It has been described as a first effort to bring people together to discuss the current state of Catholic Church in Ireland which has been rocked in recent years by a series of high profile child abuse scandals.
During that period, a number of priests have openly expressed their desire for change in Church rules on matters such as clerical celibacy, the ordination of women and the ban on contraception.
However, in recent months, some of Ireland’s most vocal, liberal priests have been disciplined by the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF).
They include leading ACP member, Father Tony Flannery, and the broadcaster and newspaper columnist Fr Brian D’Arcy.
Fr Flannery, who is based in County Galway, was ordered to stop writing articles for a Redemptorist Order magazine to which he had contributed for 14 years.
Fr D’Arcy was told he must get prior approval to write or broadcast on topics dealing with church doctrine.
Revelations
In the run-up to Easter, Pope Benedict warned that the Church would not tolerate priests speaking out against Catholic teaching.
Last week, a BBC documentary uncovered new revelations about an internal Church investigation into clerical child sex abuse in 1975.
It said a teenage boy who had been sexually abused by Fr Brendan Smyth gave the names and addresses of other children who were at risk from the paedophile priest to Cardinal Brady, who at that time was a 36-year-old priest.
He passed the allegations to his superiors but did not inform the police or the children’s parents.
Fr Smyth continued to sexually assault one of the boys for a year after that.
He also abused the boy’s sister for seven years, and four of his cousins, up until 1988.
The ACP recently commissioned a survey of Irish Catholics which found that 90% would support the introduction of married priests.
The survey also found that 77% of Irish Catholics want women to be ordained, while more than 60% disagreed with Church teaching that gay relationships were immoral.
At the time, Fr Brendan Hoban from the ACP said the results were proof that the perception of Irish Catholics as traditionalist, conservative and resistant to change was wrong.
Father George Smith: Corner Brook, Newfoundland courthouse (82 Mt. Bernard Ave.) – for arraignment on all charges.
I don’t have the start time but both of the last dates were scheduled for 10 am so there is a good chance it is 10 am.
I hope those with the time and within driving distance can make it to the courthouse, both to witness the proceedings first-hand and to support the nine or more complainants.
As always, keep the complainants in your prayers, and please pass on any news of the outcome
(2) Wednesday, 09 May 2012
Father Daniel Miller: 09:30 am, Renfrew courthouse (127 Raglan St. S.). I believe the new charges will be merged with the initial charges.
*****
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I can not stop thinking about Cardinal Brady and that 14-year-old boy who was dragged in for interrogation without his father. I am floored by the questions put to the boy, even asking if he got to enjoy the abuse! What kind of demented mind thought that one up? And truth be told, what difference would it make if the child’s body did betray him in response to the unwelcome sexual stimulation he endured at the hands of a priest? Would that make the crime any less a crime? or the sin of the predatory priest any less a sin?
Although he admits having committed sexual assault against Frank Smith, the Redemptorist Raymond-Marie Lavoie believes that the damage alleged by the latter are mainly due to factors other than his actions.
leSoliel library, Pascal Ratthé
(Quebec) The Redemptorist Raymond-Marie Lavoie believes that the class action initiated by the victims against his community and himself are prescribed. He further contends that the applicant, Frank Tremblay, has not suffered the damage alleged by him and his troubles have nothing to do with the sexual assaults he committed against him.
This is the conclusion of the defense of Redemptorist 72 year filed the class action in Superior Court exercised. The Congregation of the Redemptorists, also covered by the class action implemented by Frank Smith, also filed a defense and the judge of the Superior Court handling the case, Claude Bouchard, issued an order banning publication and non- disclosure because of passages referring to the privacy of persons concerned in the proceedings. Its contents will therefore remain unknown, at least until the trial, if the case reaches this stage.
Although he admits having committed sexual assault against Frank Tremblay while a student at St. Alphonsus Seminary and cons “some other students,” Father Lavoie, who is currently serving a sentence of three years in prison for these crimes, says that the damages alleged by Mr. Tremblay are mainly due to factors other than his actions.
Moreover, the respondent in the class action denies conspiring with other Redemptorists for sexually assaulting students, as alleged in the plaintiffs’ request. The septuagenarian said he never knew that such acts were occurring during the period when he worked at the seminary.
Limitation period expired
Regarding the prescription, it can be bypassed if the applicant proves that he was incapable of bringing his action until 2010, denies that Raymond-Marie Lavoie. He said the limitation period is also long overdue for each victim of his actions between 1960 and 1987.
Moreover, respondent points to the passage, “he exerted no threat, violence or physical or moral coercion with regard to one or other of the victims of his actions.” This is perhaps partly why it considers that Frank Tremblay has not suffered the damage alleged.
It seems that the examination for discovery of the latter confirms that grades have from the beginning of secondary school and before the charges against Raymond-Marie Lavoie, was below expectations and academic achievement in primary school . Its difficulties are then persisted throughout his schooling.
Moreover, adding Lavoie, interrogation of Frank Smith did not demonstrate difficulty adjusting to the work. Except for his last job in Quebec that would have caused problems and led to changes of career, Mr. Tremblay has always kept his job for long periods. According to the Redemptorist, these recent problems have nothing to do with him or his actions.
“Grossly exaggerated”
The many troubles of Mr. Tremblay, the respondent added without specifying further, are in any case unrelated to him. Its difficulties have other sources, would he related in his interrogation.
Despite the sympathy that the Redemptorist have said for all of his victims, he considers that the damage they claim are “grossly exaggerated” and, moreover, they are prescribed.
____________________________________
Recours collectif contre les Rédemptoristes: le père Lavoie nie les dommages allégués
Publié le 04 mai 2012 à 05h00 | Mis à jour le 04 mai 2012 à 09h58
Le Soleil
(Québec) Le rédemptoriste Raymond-Marie Lavoie considère que le recours collectif entrepris par ses victimes contre sa communauté et lui-même sont prescrits. Il soutient en outre que le requérant, Frank Tremblay, n’a pas subi les dommages qu’il allègue et que ses ennuis n’ont rien à voir avec les agressions sexuelles qu’il a commises contre lui.
C’est ce qui ressort de la défense du rédemptoriste de 72 ans déposée au dossier du recours collectif exercé en Cour supérieure. La congrégation des Rédemptoristes, aussi visée par le recours collectif mis en oeuvre par Frank Tremblay, a également déposé sa défense, mais le juge de la Cour supérieure chargé du dossier, Claude Bouchard, a prononcé une ordonnance de non-publication et de non-divulgation en raison de passages évoquant la vie privée de personnes concernées par la procédure. Son contenu demeurera donc inconnu, du moins jusqu’à la tenue du procès, si la cause atteint ce stade.
Bien qu’il admette avoir commis les agressions sexuelles contre Frank Tremblay lorsqu’il était élève au Séminaire Saint-Alphonse et contre «certains autres étudiants», le père Lavoie, qui purge actuellement une peine de trois ans de pénitencier pour ces délits, affirme que les dommages allégués par M. Tremblay sont principalement dus à des facteurs autres que ses agissements.
Par ailleurs, l’intimé dans le recours collectif nie avoir comploté avec d’autres rédemptoristes pour agresser sexuellement des élèves, tel qu’allégué dans la requête des demandeurs. Le septuagénaire dit avoir toujours ignoré que de tels agissements avaient cours durant la période où il a travaillé au séminaire.
Délai de prescription échu
En ce qui concerne la prescription, elle peut être contournée si le requérant fait la preuve qu’il a été incapable d’intenter son recours jusqu’à 2010, ce que nie Raymond-Marie Lavoie. Selon lui, le délai de prescription est aussi échu depuis longtemps pour chacune des victimes de ses agissements, entre 1960 et 1987.
D’ailleurs, souligne l’intimé au passage, «il n’a exercé aucune menace, violence ou contrainte physique ou morale à l’égard de l’une ou l’autre des victimes de ses agissements». C’est peut-être en partie pourquoi il considère que Frank Tremblay n’a pas subi les dommages qu’il allègue.
Il semblerait que l’interrogatoire au préalable de ce dernier confirme que ses résultats scolaires ont, dès le début du secondaire et avant les faits reprochés à Raymond-Marie Lavoie, été en deçà de ses attentes et de ses résultats scolaires à l’école primaire. Ses difficultés auraient ensuite persisté tout au long de sa formation scolaire.
De plus, d’ajouter Lavoie, l’interrogatoire de Frank Tremblay n’a pas démontré de difficulté d’adaptation au travail. Exception faite de son dernier emploi à Québec qui lui aurait causé des difficultés et amené des changements de carrière, M. Tremblay aurait toujours conservé ses emplois durant de longues périodes. Selon le rédemptoriste, ces récentes difficultés n’ont aucun lien avec lui ou avec ses agissements.
«Grossièrement exagérés»
Les nombreux ennuis de M. Tremblay, ajoute l’intimé sans préciser davantage, sont de toute façon sans lien avec lui. Ses difficultés ont d’autres sources, aurait-il relaté dans son interrogatoire.
Malgré la sympathie que le rédemptoriste dit avoir pour l’ensemble de ses victimes, il considère que les dommages qu’ils réclament sont «grossièrement exagérés» et, au surplus, ils sont prescrits.
THIS is the letter that sensationally reveals that the Catholic Church KNEW a paedophile priest had “an unwholesome relationship” – 25 years BEFORE he was jailed for sexually abusing six boys.
James Robinson, who worked in parishes across the Midlands, fled to America in 1985 – days after police were first alerted by a victim that he had been abused by the ex-priest when he was a child.
Yet in October of that year a letter was sent on behalf of the then Archbishop of Birmingham, Maurice Couve de Murville, by Monsignor Canon Daniel Leonard, Vicar General of the Archdiocese, to Reverend Monsignor John Rawden, Chancellor of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
The Birmingham Vicar General made no reference to the shocking allegations of child sex abuse that had been levelled against Robinson, and were later proven, in his correspondence.
Instead he wrote: “Father Robinson’s work as a priest has been highly regarded ever since his ordination fourteen years ago.
“He has shown considerable talent in recruiting groups of lay workers to assist in various capacities.
“For some reason he has always been interested in being a priest in the United States.
“Even as a student, he wanted to join the Diocese of Miami, but was not encouraged by the Archbishop of Birmingham at the time.
“Since his ordination he has regularly done summer vacation work in various American parishes and from time to time expressed a desire to join an American Diocese.
“The immediate reason for his being in the United States just now is that a few months ago he met a man with whom he had an unwholesome relationship about thirteen years ago.
“We have no reason to believe that there has been any recurrence of this problem, but Father Robinson says that he would feel safer a long distance away and untraceable by this man.”
Robinson, a serial child sex abuser, was sentenced to 21 years in prison at Birmingham Crown Court in October 2010.
The 74 year-old was found guilty of a string of offences involving the sexual abuse of children over a period of 24 years from 1959 to 1983 – including the man referred to in Monsignor Canon Daniel Leonard’s letter who gave key evidence against him.
Some of his victims, who are now aged in their 40s, 50s and 60s, were attacked after the “unwholesome relationship” referred to by the Vicar General.
Chillingly the court heard that the pervert was known as “Father Jim” and that he had “a dreadful weakness” for boys as young as 10.
Jailing him Judge Patrick Thomas QC said: “The offences you committed were unimaginably wicked and caused immense and long-lasting – we can only hope not permanent – damage.
“You used, you abused your position of trust, your position of authority and total trust within the communities you moved to and from. You enjoyed, I have no doubt, selecting your victims, choosing vulnerable children.
“You enjoyed doing your best to groom them into accepting what you did to them.
“You were and are sufficiently devious, manipulative and bold to have got away with a highly risky sequence of sexual encounters over a period of 25 years.”
The paedophile lived in California until 2009 when he was extradited back to the UK to stand trial.
Eight years after he moved to Los Angeles he was defrocked when the Archdiocese of Birmingham wrote again to their Californian counterparts to tell them that Robinson had been accused of sex abuse and that he was being recalled to Britain. But the paedophile stayed in the US.
Now campaigners, led by Robinson victim Geoff Smith, targeted by the fiend while he was growing up in Walsall, are calling for a public inquiry into the role the Catholic Church played in Robinson’s escape to America. They claim bishops tried to cover up child sexual abuse by their clergy.
A website – www.stopchurchchildabuse.co.uk – has been set-up by an alliance of charities, victims and lawyers who want the Government to further investigate the Church. It has been backed by Birmingham Perry Barr Labour MP Khalid Mahmood.
And child abuse campaigners in Los Angeles have called for those church staff involved in Robinson’s move to America to be held responsible.
Mr Smith said: “There has to be a public enquiry into this.
“The Catholic Church allowed Robinson to escape serious allegations of sexual abuse and move to America where he could have potentially abused more children.
“The Church must answer questions on this and admit what it has done.
“I have spoken with four of the other victims who also want a public enquiry.
“They have covered up rape and abuse.”
Mr Mahmood told the Sunday Mercury: “There should be a public inquiry.
“It is absolutely disgraceful that the Church was involved in this sort of subterfuge.
“This is the worst kind of hypocrisy and we should root it out and finish it.
“It ruins people’s lives.”
A spokesman for the US group Survivors of Those Abused by Priests said: “It is extremely disappointing that Catholic officials were aware that allegations had been made against Robinson, yet allowed him move to America and praise him.
“Church staff in England and in California should be ashamed and held responsible.
“To us this is a clear cut case of negligent child endangerment.
“LA church officials wilfully put children at risk when they failed to inform parishioners and parents of the dangers posed by Robinson.”
Robinson, who was brought up in Brownhills, Walsall, left a career as a professional boxer to train in the priesthood in 1963.
He worked in Midland parishes including the Holy Family in Small Heath, Birmingham, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour at Rednal, Our Lady of Lourdes at Old Hill, Wolverhampton, and St Elizabeth’s in Foleshill, Coventry.
Abuse
Last night Archdiocese of Birmingham spokesman Peter Jennings said the Church had new policies to deal with allegations of abuse since the 1980s and that Archbishop Maurice Couve de Murville and Monsignor Canon Daniel Leonard, Vicar General, are now dead.
“The Archdiocese of Birmingham has co-operated fully with the police in their investigation into the allegations made against James Robinson,” he said.
“Those involved in the management of this matter in 1985 are no longer alive.
“Robinson was convicted and sentenced during October 2011 and it is not appropriate for the Archdiocese of Birmingham to make any further detailed comments at the present time as there are civil cases pending.
“The Catholic Church now has robust and effective policies and procedures in place to ensure that all allegations of abuse are reported to the police immediately.”
Church officials in Los Angeles said they knew nothing of the sex abuse allegations facing Robinson until 1993.
Archdiocese of Los Angeles spokesman Tod Tamberg, said: “We did not receive any claim that Robinson abused anyone before he came to Los Angeles, and we have received no claims that he abused anyone during his time at three parishes in our archdiocese.
“In 1993, the archdiocese received a letter from the Catholic bishop in Birmingham alerting us that Robinson had been accused of sexual abuse of children, and that he was being recalled to England.
“Upon receipt of the letter, which indicated that a crime was being alleged, Robinson’s priestly faculties were revoked, and he was sent home.
“Fifteen years later, in 2008, we received an anonymous phone call saying that he was managing a trailer park in Southern California. We turned that information over to the police.
“Given the penchant of child molesters to manipulate and lie in order to cover up their actions, it could be that Robinson lied to his bishop about a great many things, including possibly, his supposed relationship with another man.”
Dr Martin said Smyth’s victims were owed such an inquiry
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has called for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of paedophile priest, the late Fr Brendan Smyth.
Dr Diarmuid Martin said Smyth’s victims were owed such an inquiry.
It would be in the public interest that the full story came out, not bits and pieces, he told RTE Radio 1 on Sunday.
His comments follow a week when the Irish Primate came under pressure over his role in a 1975 inquiry into Smyth.
A BBC documentary accused Cardinal Sean Brady of failing to pass on details of children being abused by Smyth to police or parents.
The programme focused on a 14-year-old boy who had been sexually abused by Smyth.
_____________________________
Archbishop Martin calls for abuse probe
The Irish Examiner
Sunday, May 06, 2012 – 04:05 PM
Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin has called for an independent investigation into past allegations of clerical sex abuse.
As Archbishop Martin spoke out against the past failings of the Church, another bishop defended Cardinal Sean Brady, whose involvement in a secret 1975 probe into allegations of abuse has come under fire.
Archbishop Martin said a commission should be set up to examine all accusations against paedophile priest Brendan Smyth.
“I know it’s not fashionable to talk about commissions, but I believe an independent commission to investigate the activities of Brendan Smyth would be in the public interest, as to how he was allowed to abuse for so many years – north and south, church and state,” Archbishop Martin told RTE.
He said it was the least Fr Smyth’s victims deserve.
But Bishop of Ardagh and Clonmacnoise Colm O’Reilly said while the abuse carried out by Fr Smyth was appalling, Cardinal Brady should not be forced to resign.
A documentary last week revealed that Cardinal Brady, who acted as a note-taker during the probe into allegations against Fr Smyth in the 1970s, had a list of children’s names who were being abused but failed to inform gardaí and the children’s parents.
He has refused to step down from his position as Primate, despite increasing pressure from politicians north and south of the border.
The cardinal gave the information to his superior bishop, but no action was taken against Fr Smyth and he was able to continue abusing children for a further 20 years.
“I feel he should not stand aside,” said Bishop O’Reilly. “I think what he did, he did conscientiously. I have no reason to doubt that. I have great respect for Cardinal Sean Brady.”
The bishop added that had Cardinal Brady, then a teacher in Armagh, given the evidence he had obtained to gardaí, they would have referred him back to the Church.
“I’m not sure the authorities would have been able to take it on themselves,” he said.
The 1975 private probe involved interviews with then 14-year-old Brendan Boland. He told investigators at least five children had been attacked by Smyth.
Fr Smyth continued abusing for a further two decades and it is feared at least another 30 children fell victim to him.
The paedophile was eventually convicted in 1994 in a Belfast court of 17 counts of sexual abuse.
He pleaded guilty to a further 74 counts of child sex abuse three years later in Dublin. He died in prison in 1997.
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Archbishop of Dublin wants Smyth inquiry
The Archbishop of Dublin is calling for a full independent inquiry into the activities of paedophile priest Father Brendan Smyth.
UTV
Published Sunday, 06 May 2012
It comes in the wake of this week’s BBC documentary, centred on All-Ireland primate Cardinal Sean Brady’s role in the church’s initial investigation in 1975.
The programme included claims that then Fr Brady failed to adequately protect children against the notorious child molester.
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin says a full commission of investigation should take place, covering both Northern Ireland and the Republic.
Cardinal Brady has been facing increasing pressure to step down after it was revealed he had the names and addresses of five children who were abused by Fr Smyth.
He acted as a note-taker during interviews with two of Smyth’s victims. Reports of sexual abuse were not passed on to police are parents.
Some mass-goers at Dublin’s Pro Cathedral on Sunday felt the Cardinal has been left with no option but to give up his role as head of the Catholic Church in Ireland.
One man said: “I think he should resign as I don’t think he really has the moral authority anymore.”
Another woman said: “I’m really sad about it because I like the man – but it is probably best if he does go, under the circumstances.”
Earlier this week, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore called for anyone who did properly deal with allegations of child abuse against paedophile to step down.
The Labour TD said: “It is my personal view that anybody who did not deal with the scale of the abuse that we have seen in this case should not hold a position of authority.”
