By Cathy Hayes
Irish Central
April 8, 2011
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/-Pedophile-Irish-priest-is-claiming-prison-mistreatment-119466774.html
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| St Bernard's Church, Eureka: McCabe's former parish in California |
Diagnosed pedophile, former priest, Patrick Joseph McCabe, who is being extradited to Ireland for abusing six boys, is being subjected to cruel conditions in his US prison according to his attorney.
Robert Beles, McCabe's attorney yesterday condemned the prison where McCabe is being housed. Beles said that McCabe (74) is being held in "freezing" isolated conditions in Alameda, California. He has been awaiting extradition since July 2010.
Beles said "He is in isolation and he’s freezing and his health is very bad. The jail is cold and when you’re 70 years old, it makes it all the more difficult. I have had complaints from young men housed at the jail that it’s too cold, so for someone like him, who is in ill-health and has poor circulation, it’s extremely difficult.
“He is suffering and I think people in Ireland would not approve of how he is being treated in the US. It is cruel,” the Irish Times reports.
The former priest suffers from diabetes and other medical conditions. Beles questions whether he can get suitable medical care in prison. Although McCabe has been on suicide watch for several months Beles claims his client is not suicidal.
McCabe was a notorious figure and survivors of his abuse continue to surface in California.
On Wednesday the court in Alameda rejected an appeal against an earlier court ruling that he should be sent to Ireland to face trial.
Beles has now vowed to continue to fight against the extradition order and will bring the case to the Ninth Circuit Court, the final appeal court. If this fails Secretary of State Hillary Clinton could be asked to rubber stamp the extradition. However, this could take months.
McCabe is objecting to the extradition because if he was accused of similar crimes in the United States the statute of limitations would run out. Four men in California have already come forward accusing
McCabe of abuse in California. However, after the age of 26, charges of child abuse will not stand in court.
These four men now plan to sue the Dublin Archdiocese and the Catholic Church-run clinic where
McCabe was diagnosed as a pedophile before being placed back into the community.
Currently McCabe is wanted on charges of sexually abusing six boys while working in Dublin in the 1970s and 1980s.
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