Irish-born Chilean Priest Found Guilty Of Child Sex Abuse

Business Insider
October 15, 2014

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-irish-born-chilean-priest-found-guilty-of-child-sex-abuse-2014-10

SANTIAGO (Reuters) - An Irish-born Chilean priest was found guilty on Wednesday of sexually abusing a child in his care at a religious school in the capital, Santiago.

The court found that John O'Reilly, who moved to Chile from Ireland in 1985, had abused the pre-teen girl behind closed doors at the private Colegio Cumbres in the affluent neighborhood of Las Condes between 2007 and 2009.

"The tribunal has established beyond all reasonable doubt that ... O'Reilly resolved to carry out actions of a sexual nature via body contact with a school student," said Judge Maria Teresa Barrientos.

O'Reilly, who denied the charges, will be sentenced next month. Prosecutors have requested that he be sent to prison for 10 years.

The school where the abuse took place is part of the network of the Legionaries of Christ, a conservative religious order whose founder was revealed to be a fraud and pedophile who had fathered several children.