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	Is Child Sex Abuser in Your Town? Irish Post December 2, 2009 http://www.irishpost.co.uk/tabId/550/itemId/7421/Is-child-sex-abuser-in-your-town.aspx THE LOCATION of a convicted sex offender who worked in Britain and who has been named in Ireland's most damning child abuse report is unknown and a cause for concern. John Kinsella was one of 46 priests named in an investigation as part of a Diocesan Report, which exposed a litany of abuse in the Archdiocese of Dublin. Kinsella, who was born in 1948, was based in Yorkshire for 26 years. He served three years of an eight-year sentence in the Curragh prison after pleading guilty to four counts of indecent assault on two brothers aged 12 and 13 in 1999. When the crimes were committed, Kinsella was temporarily attached to the Enniskerry parish in Co. Wicklow. But his whereabouts remain a mystery since being released in 2001. The report said: "It is a cause of concern that his current whereabouts are unknown but this is the case for many sex offenders." The possibility that he may be in Britain has not been ruled out. Kinsella first met the brothers when they were holidaying with their families in Lourdes in 1973. He admitted to giving them alcohol and forcing them to engage in oral sex. During his trial in 1999 one of the brothers he assaulted, who lived in Northampton at the time, said: "He destroyed my life, I want him kept off the streets for good. My marriage broke up, I had to leave Ireland and I can never return because of the memories." Under cross-examination Kinsella admitted he had been abused as a child and wanted to express remorse to his own victims. Kinsella first came to Britain in 1973 and served as a curate at St. Mary's Cathedral in Sheffield and in churches around Bradford and Huddersfield in the Leeds Diocese. After the allegations became public, Kinsella left the priesthood and worked as a part-time lecturer at a college in Huddersfield. Deirdre Kenny from One In Four Ireland — a registered charity which provides support to people who have experienced sexual abuse and sexual violence — said: "Of course it's a matter of huge concern that the whereabouts of this former priest is unknown. As a community we should make sure we do everything to ensure children are protected and in this case, knowing where this man is would help with that." The Commission of Investigation outlined how allegations of abuse against clerics over the period 1975 to 2004 were handled by Church and State authorities. The damning conclusions exposed a culture of deference and cover-up, which has again rocked the State — so soon after the publication of the Ryan Report. The report highlighted the case of Kinsella and also of Frank McCarthy, who ministered in Somers Town (Camden) London in 1986. McCarthy received a suspended sentence in July 1997 after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a young boy from Dunlavin in the 1970s. Of the 46 priests investigated, some remain within their orders under strict conditions, some have left Ireland and others have disappeared.
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