BBC News
February 25, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/west_midlands/7264000.stm
Police have agreed to re-examine allegations of child abuse made against a former Roman Catholic priest.
West Midlands Police is reviewing the case after admitting it failed to investigate when a complaint was made about Father James Robinson in 2003.
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| Father James Robinson denies the claims |
Father Robinson, who denies the claims, worked in Sutton Coldfield, Cradley Heath and Newcastle-under-Lyme, but moved to California in 1985.
The Crown Prosecution Service is considering an extradition request.
The Roman Catholic church has paid thousands of pounds in out-of-court settlements to people who claim that Father Robinson abused them.
Claims denied
A complaint was made about him to West Midlands Police in 2003, but no investigation was carried out the force admitted following an internal inquiry.
The complaint came after Father Robinson was tracked down by the BBC's Kenyon Confronts programme.
He was brought face-to-face with a man who claimed he had been abused by him.
The complainant also alleged that West Midlands Police had failed to extradite Father Robinson.
This was rejected by the force as no treaty which allowed extradition from California existed at the time.
A new treaty allowing this was ratified in 2006.
The Archdiocese of Birmingham said in a statement that Archbishop Vincent Nichols had written to Father Robinson, urging him to return to the UK and answer the allegations, but the former priest had refused.
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