Derby Pervert Priest Francis Cullen "Was in Tears" When Quizzed by Schoolgirl's Mum

By Martin Naylor
Derby Telegraph
February 28, 2014

http://www.derbytelegraph.co.uk/Derby-pervert-priest-Francis-Cullen-tears-quizzed/story-20720656-detail/story.html

Father Francis Paul Cullen was parish priest at Christ the King, Mackworth Estate, from 1960 to 1978. He is pictured here in 1966.

A FORMER Mackworth schoolgirl said paedophile priest Francis Cullen burst into tears when her mother confronted him about his abuse more than 50 years ago.

The woman claims her mother was then visited by “a senior member of the Catholic Church” and told the matter would be dealt with – but Cullen remained at Christ the King Church in Mackworth until 1978.

The woman, who does not wish to be identified, has come forward following Cullen’s court appearance in Derby on Monday.

At that hearing, the 85-year-old admitted abusing children over a 35-year period.

The woman said she and her family lived in Greenwich Drive South in the 1950s and 1960s and she and her two older brothers went to Christ the King Church.

She said: “My mother told me that during this time Cullen attempted to groom three children out of a family of four and when she was told about it she went to him and confronted him.

“She told me that he burst into tears when she said she was going to report him to the church.

“Then she told me she was visited by a more senior member of the church at the time and told not to report him and that the matter would be dealt with.

“There seems to have been an inner sanctum at the time and that issues like this just got brushed under the carpet.”

On Monday, Cullen pleaded guilty to 21 charges of child sex abuse.

The 13 Mackworth offences involved four altar boys and date between 1957 and 1974.

Five offences relate to two girls who were abused between 1980 and 1985 in Buxton.

The final three counts relate to one male victim in Hyson Green, Nottingham, between 1989 and 1991.

Cullen was arrested in Nottingham in 1991.

He was bailed by Nottingham Magistrates’ Court but failed to appear again, going into hiding in Tenerife for 22 years.

Fresh allegations came to light in 2005 relating to offences in Derby and he was finally tracked down on the holiday island in 2011 following a tip-off from a Derby churchgoer.

Derbyshire police successfully applied to the Spanish police for his extradition and Cullen will be sentenced on March 24 at Derby Crown Court.

The woman, who now lives in Nottingham, said: “I remember being quite young, maybe five or six, and saying to my mum that I did not want to go to church or Sunday school because I didn’t like Father Cullen. There was something about him that just didn’t seem right to me even at that young age.

“I have two elder brothers and my mother has told me that Cullen had inappropriate conversations with one of them when my brother would have been aged around 14.

“There must be an awful lot of families in the Mackworth area who were affected that have not come forward.

“The Roman Catholic church needs to stop hiding and become more transparent.

“It needs to step forward, take the blame and move forward in its ideology.”

Father Andrew Cole is the private secretary to the Bishop of Nottingham, the most senior representative of the Catholic Church in the area.

He said: “‘I have looked through Cullen’s personnel file and have found no evidence that this allegation was reported at the time.

“I am aware that the woman says that it was, and deeply regret it if this was the case.

“We have worked closely with Derbyshire Police throughout this investigation and will continue to do so should any further allegations come to light.”

Yesterday, the Ministry of Justice admitted it had no record of who signed a document which saw a search warrant for Cullen withdrawn in 2000.

At the time he had skipped bail and was living in Tenerife, but Nottinghamshire police could not find him and his case was put on hold because it was felt there was no realistic chance of him being found and arrested.

A spokesman for the Ministry said: “The court has been through the records and they do not show a name and our records do not show which judge or magistrate was sitting (in 2000).”

Reacting to the statement, Fr Cole said: “The Diocese of Nottingham is aware that the warrant for Cullen’s arrest was in place for nine years after he did not appear in court in Nottingham in 1991 and accepts that it was only withdrawn after analysis by the appropriate authorities within the criminal justice system.

“Nevertheless, Cullen remained at large within a Member State of the European Union for more than 20 years.

“We worked closely with Derbyshire Police to track Cullen down to Tenerife and shared information which came to us concerning his whereabouts with them.

“It was vitally important that Cullen be brought to justice and we are pleased that Derbyshire Police were able to secure his arrest and return to the United Kingdom.

“We hope that his sentence will reflect the gravity of his crimes.

“It is thanks to the bravery of Cullen’s victims in coming forward after many years of silence that he was brought to justice.

“The abuse of children is wicked and the diocese takes the safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults extremely seriously.

“I would urge anyone who has been abused as a child to report that abuse to the police, no matter when it was or by whom it was committed, so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice.”