By Lisa Hutchinson
The Journal
February 1, 2011
http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2011/02/01/victims-of-priest-bernard-traynor-get-cash-payout-61634-28089902/
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THREE brothers who were sexually abused by a priest decades ago have been compensated by representatives of the Roman Catholic Church.
The boys were being cared for at St Vincent's children's home in Newcastle in the 1970s when they were preyed upon by Bernard Traynor.
The paedophile, now 56, but formerly an assistant at St Robert's in Morpeth, Northumberland, and a priest at St Anne's in Low Fell, Gateshead, molested the boys for five years after befriending them while on visits to the children's home.
He was brought to justice 20 years later when the brothers reported him to the authorities. At Newcastle Crown Court in 1995, Sunderland-born Traynor was given a two-year probation order after admitting six counts of indecent assault between 1972 and 1979.
The court heard how Traynor first came into contact with the boys and their fourth brother while visiting the orphanage as a student.
After the case, the men were told they weren't eligible for compensation because so many years had passed.
But in 2008 convicted rapist Iorworth Hoare, who bought a £700,000 luxury home in Ponteland after he won the National Lottery, was successfully sued by his victim decades after he attacked her.
The case changed the law to allow victims of assault to claim damages many years afterwards.
Three of the brothers, who do not want to be named and all still live in Newcastle, instructed Thompsons Solicitors to claim compensation from the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese of the Catholic Church Now the men – who today are 49, 51 and 52 – have clinched "substantial" recompense. One of the brothers said: "Claiming compensation was never about the money, but about acknowledgement for the terrible abuse we suffered.
"All our lives have been affected by what happened at St Vincent's.
"Had the abuse not taken place, we are all certain that we would all have taken different paths.
"But we never received a proper apology from the diocese for what they put us through. Finally, after three decades, we have received acknowledgement of the abuse we suffered by the very organisation that should have been looking after our interests."
Bryan Prudham, speaking on behalf of Thompsons Solicitors, added: "What Traynor did was a gross abuse of his position.
"While this compensation will never replace the lives these brothers feel they have lost as a result of the abuse they faced, we hope it will go some way towards providing a feeling of justice."
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