IRELAND
One in Four
The Irish Times
A woman who refrained from making a complaint about a priest who sexually assaulted her because it would have upset her mother, yesterday said she wished her mother was alive to see her vindicated in court after the priest was convicted and given a suspended sentence.
Mary Morgan (46) had told Cork Circuit Criminal Court that she had waited until her mother had died before she made the complaint that Canon Denis Forde had sexually assaulted her in a sacristy because it would have been too upsetting for her mother, who worked as a sacristan.
"My mother would say that to be in the sacristy and be with a priest was the closest thing to God, he [ Forde] became her saviour and I couldn't destroy it - I would have destroyed her by telling her," said Ms Morgan after yesterday's hearing.
"I suffered all my life and she had no idea why I suffered the way I did - I just wish she could be here today if she knew what had happened and saw his conviction," said Ms Morgan, adding that it was Forde's conviction rather than sentence that meant most to her.