AFP
September 7, 2011
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gISuCPKyGLuX4SQjy-KU11p0lhIA?docId=CNG.d7c4053414461c34e484ada405727340.101
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| Parents and victims of priest abuse hold banners during a demonstration in Rome in 2010 (AFP/File, Vincenzo Pinto) |
An Indian priest who molested several young girls in the United States remains a threat to children in India, a lawyer for one of his victims said Tuesday in announcing a $750,000 settlement.
Reverend Joseph Jeyapaul returned to India before the charges came to light and has not yet returned to face criminal charges in the United States.
Attorneys for his US victim said they believe he is still in active ministry in India working as the administrator of 40 schools.
"We're scared for those kids in India," said attorney Jeffrey Anderson, who has filed scores of claims on behalf of victims of child sex abuse by priests.
"We are concerned that he's still in ministry and we know that he still has access to kids."
Jeyapaul -- who was temporarily assigned to the Diocese of Crookston in Minnesota in 2004 -- was accused of repeatedly molesting a 16-year-old girl in the rectory.
Two other victims have since come forward, Anderson said.
Jeyapaul insisted that he was innocent when the allegations made headlines last year and received a letter of support from over 1,100 parishioners in India urging US officials to drop criminal charges.
Bishop A. Amalraj, head of the Ootacamund diocese in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, said last year that he believed the charges were "blown out of proportion."
However, Jeyapaul was being monitored by church officials and his work did not put him in contact with women or children, the bishop told AFP.
Church officials in India were not immediately available for comment Tuesday.
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