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	Sins of the Father Unforgivable Sunday Life [Northern Ireland] June 17, 2007 http://www.sundaylife.co.uk/news/article2666895.ece "My faith has been completely shattered," said the grandmother of Ulster child rapist Billy Adams' victim. Mary, a feisty, working-class Scouser, raised as a God-fearing Catholic, was almost shaking with rage as she told how Fermanagh priest Fr Jeremiah McGrath (64) lulled her family into believing Billy Adams - who he knew was a serial paedophile - could be trusted to babysit her little grand-daughter and her younger brother. "I was 'made up' when Fr Jerry came to my house for Sunday dinner. I was over the moon. It was an honour to serve a priest. I made such a fuss," she recalled. "I'd no idea what he was up to. How could I? Why would I think such a thing? I was brought up to believe priests told the truth. I had faith in the Cloth." Sitting beside Mary in a bar near Liverpool Courthouse was the victim's mum, 'Margaret', and a group of uncles, all willing to tell the story of how the man who called himself Bill Adams wormed his way into their lives in the summer of 2005 and how they finally found out the truth. They told how Adams - who had just been released from an Ulster jail in November 2004 having served six years for raping an eight-year-old girl - fed them a pack of lies, and how his behaviour became increasingly violent. They described how Adams: ¿ claimed he had won £500,000 on the lottery; ¿ ran two cars, and ran apartments in both Liverpool and Blackpool, stayed in luxury hotels and gambled furiously with Fr McGrath; would humiliate and beat up his so-called uncle, Fr McGrath; put a knife to his little girl victim's throat and threatened her with violence if she ever told he was abusing her; broke the mother's nose and smashed her teeth in front of the hysterical 11-year-old. bought an airgun to scare his victim, carried Bowie knives and drove around in a car filled with teddy bears. In reality, Billy Adams was not a lottery winner, but was claiming Job Seekers allowance. However, with Roslea priest Fr McGrath giving him £3,000 each month, Adams kidded the family and showered his little victim with treats. Adams had at first befriended the victim's father shortly after moving to Liverpool, but soon lit on his estranged wife after being introduced to the family. The family assumed, wrongly, that Adams was having a sexual relationship with the mum. She realised too late that Adams had used her to get to her daughter. He stayed in his own flat, but, with the mother working long hours in a bakery, Adams took on the role of babysitter, seizing the opportunity to groom the vulnerable and impressionable girl. Any doubts the wider family had about Adams were dispelled when his 'uncle' Jerry arrived to spend a weekend in July 2005. "He was very quiet at that first dinner, he didn't make much conversation. He told me to call him Jerry and said how he did a lot work with children at schools in his village," said the granny. "He came across as very nice, a gentleman," chipped in an uncle. "But then he was over every weekend. He'd stay with Adams but he'd come around here and make himself at home," said Mary. "He swore like a trooper, and boy could he drink." The silver-haired priest was dubbed "Father Ted" by the mum but soon the family began to wonder how he met his parish duties. "I said to him: 'You're here every weekend, you must be well in with the Archbishop'. He just laughed," recalled Mary. McGrath did get into a flap one weekend when he suddenly realised he'd forgotten he was supposed to be performing a wedding back home. Mary was alarmed when the priest began appearing with bruises on his face, which she discovered had been inflicted by Adams. And 'Margaret' recalled how on one occasion she saw Adams smash a cup into the priest's head. "Jerry was lying on the floor bleeding. He (Adams) just said: 'He was doing my head in'." Margaret also hid from the family that Adams had smashed in her teeth and broken her nose on a trip to Blackpool, explaining away her injuries by saying she had tripped over a suitcase and fallen downstairs. "My daughter saw him beat me up and she was hysterical," said Margaret. It later emerged that Adams warned the child she would get the same as her mum if she ever told anyone he was abusing her. The family say that in October 2005 they were warned by social services that Adams was a sex offender and the children should not be allowed near him. Granny Mary recalls how when she rang the priest he lied to her, pretending he knew nothing of Billy Adams' convictions. "He said: 'Mary, I never used to see Billy for months on end. He'd disappear and I'd never know what he was up to'. "But then he said: 'I wouldn't believe all you read in the papers or what the police tell you'. He tried to reassure me that Adams was OK. That man has destroyed my faith in the Church and everything I was brought up to believe." Warnings came too late The family of the little girl repeatedly raped by Adams say they were warned too late by the authorities that he was a sex offender. "I want answers and I won't rest until I get answers," said grandmother Mary. "We have already spoken to our solicitors and we want to get to the bottom of this." They don't understand how such a high-profile Ulster paedophile was able to lead a Champagne Charlie lifestyle in Liverpool only months after his release from jail here without coming under intense surveillance. He had signed the sex offenders' register in Liverpool in January 2005 and by May 2005 he was grooming his 11-year-old victim, who he was to abuse over a six-month period. The family say it was not until October 2005 that social services warned them about Adams. By that time the damage was done. The girl was moved to stay with an uncle. They kept close tabs on her, warned her to stay away from Adams and took away the mobile phone he had given her. But the impressionable child, corrupted by Adams, made contact with her abuser again. The full truth about Adams' past only emerged in November when a worried uncle did some digging on the internet and found out he was a convicted child rapist. Adams was arrested after he abducted the girl in late November 2005. On Thursday shamed McGrath was jailed for five years for financing the grooming of a young girl for sex. Adams, who admitted multiple rapes, got life with the recommendation that he serve 15 years. The family have praised Adams' sister Sonia Erwin, who had warned the authorities in 2004 that allowing her pervert brother early release from jail was "playing Russian roulette with children's lives". "Sonia has been a tower of strength, she's given us wonderful support. We couldn't have got through this without her," said grandmother Mary.
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