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I went to Fr Charles to adopt. He told me to leave my husband. ...
By Rachel Attard
I went to Fr Charles to adopt. He told me to leave my husband. Later he tried to kiss me - victim Today, The Malta Independent is publishing parts of a sworn affidavit by one of the alleged victims regarding an alleged sexual abuse by a Dominican priest in which she gives details of her intimate relationship with him. In her affidavit, she gives a chronological account of the various times she and Fr Charles Fenech were involved sexually. She said that after her marriage was annulled, she threw a party to which Fr Charles Fenech was invited. It was here that he tried to kiss her for the first time. The relationship developed into a roller-coaster of events, with the two at times close to each other and at other times staying apart. She submitted a complaint to the Curia's Response Team in 2006 and a decision on her case has not yet been taken, eight years later. The following is an abridged version of the sworn affidavit submitted to the police by one of the victims about the way she was allegedly abused by Fr Charles Fenech. The names of other alleged victims mentioned by this woman were removed to protect their identity. The Malta Independent on Sunday has taken care not to publish the explicit details of what allegedly took place between Fr Charles Fenech and this particular victim.
"In 1991, as a young woman, a friend of mine took me to the Kerygma Movement where I met Fr Charles Fenech for the first time. After some time he became my spiritual director and he used to tell me to keep eye contact with him but I always felt uncomfortable doing it. "In 1997, six years later" I got married and I left the Kerygma group. Fr Charles Fenech was still my spiritual director. My ex-husband and I could not have children so I decided to go to Fr Fenech, who at that time was responsible for the adoption of children from Albania. When I went, he told me that it is not worth it but it would be better if I leave my husband because I had no future with him. So I requested a (marriage) annulment which was given to me (in 2000). All this was a trauma for me and I had to seek treatment. When I was discharged from hospital I threw a party and invited all my friends, including Fr Charles. When he arrived he invited me to go to the washroom upstairs and when we were there he tried to kiss me but I pushed him away. I had just come out of a trauma and knew that Fr Charles could never be mine. I went downstairs in an angry state and he followed me, leaving the house. In the evening he called me at home and asked me why I had embarrassed him in that way. I replied, 'are you serious? After a year in hospital and I'm happy that I'm out, you are doing this to me.' His reply to me was 'You suffered a lot and Jesus wants me to love you'." This newsroom is informed that the alleged sexual abuse took place in the years that followed. In 2006, the victim decided to report everything that had happened between her and Fr Charles to the Church Response Team. A few days after she filed the report, she had her first sitting in front of Judge Victor Caruana Colombo and other members of the team. Fr Charles was there and the case started. The relationship between the two stopped and the Curia left the case pending for investigation. The sworn affidavit continues as follows. "December 2010 "On 7 December a vigil was organised and I went with my then boyfriend. During that time my spiritual director was Archbishop Paul Cremona. I went to him so as to give me advice if I should tell my boyfriend about the relationship I had with Fr Charles. Archbishop Cremona's reply was that we should go to the vigil but that I should not say anything to my boyfriend. When I arrived at the church Fr Charles was there. He saw where I was sitting, came in front of me and stared at me. When my boyfriend saw all this he asked me if I knew him and my reply was that I was in his group." January 2011 - March 2011 "I broke up with my boyfriend and went to a friend of mine who, I had heard, had a relationship with Fr Charles. I asked her directly if that was the case and she answered yes. She also told me that when she was with him she saw him with another woman. My friend also confessed that Fr Fenech had other relationships with other women, whom she named to me and whom I knew. I also asked her if she knew that even I had a relationship with Fr Charles and she replied in the affirmative. I phoned Fr Charles to tell him what I just heard and he denied the claims, and told me that "who told you is a liar". "From that day onwards he told me that we should start seeing each other every two weeks, on alternate Saturdays, sometimes at 10:30am and other times at 16:30. He always used to dictate the time. We used to meet in a small room in the convent itself, however everyday he used to keep in touch with me by phone and SMSs. When I used to go to the convent, first we used to chat but towards the end of the meeting we used to have oral sex. When I refused, his reply was "u ejja, please". He stood up, went behind the door so that no one will enter the room, and I had to do what he requested. "This had become a routine and I started to have feelings for him. He used to tell me that he was risking a lot for me. I used to tell him that we sinning because that is the way I was feeling inside and I knew this was not right. He used to tell me 'Jesus wants me to love you because you suffered a lot in your life'. I used to answer by telling him that he was only loving himself because if he loved me he would leave the priesthood to be with me. Fr Charles' response was that when his parents died he will leave (the priesthood) and start a relationship with me. With these words I used to get confused." April 2011 - June 2011 "In April Fr Charles had forced me to go to the Archbishop, who was still my spiritual director, to tell him that I am going to Fr Charles for help and want him (Fr Charles) to be my new spiritual director. I went and the archbishop's advice was 'No because you are emotionally attached to him'. Unfortunately I continued to insist and at the end he told me "Mela jiena nahsel idejja" ("I wash my hands"). "From that day Fr Charles ordered me to start meeting him every Saturday. Most of the time he wanted and I used to feel sick. When he felt that he had had enough pleasure we sat down again, chatted a bit more and then he would ask me to leave. "Every Saturday he used to give me the time when he was going to celebrate Sunday mass and used to insist that I should be there. I use to sit in the same place. There I always used to see other women and they used to spend the entire mass staring at each other. When I used to tell him what I saw, his answer used to be that he is only mine. Later on I found out that at the same mass there was a third woman that he had a relationship with. One particular Sunday, during mass, when I went to receive the Holy Communion, instead of telling me 'the body of Christ' he told me 'I love you'. After mass I went to tell him that I did not like what he did and that I will not attend mass again. "When he used to call me during the night from his room he used to ask me provoking questions. "In June I was feeling mentally ill and my employer told me to stop for some time until I get my strength back. I could not leave work because I needed money. I called on Fr Charles mobile to go and see him because I needed to speak to him but he insisted that I should not go because he was in a meeting. I disobeyed and went to his convent in Rabat. As soon as I arrived I saw another woman coming out of the same room in which he and I used to meet every Saturday. As soon as he saw me he got angry and overturned the table. "A few hours later he phoned my psychologist to tell him that I was chasing him and harassing him. When I visited my doctor he told me that if I am not going to stop pestering Fr Charles he is going to send me to Mount Carmel. As he was telling me all this Fr Charles phoned on my mobile and I showed him who was chasing who. I also showed him the messages that he used to send me. As soon as my psychologist saw this he wanted to take action and went to the Curia and to Dominican Provincial. "I also went to a lawyer and she immediately told me that I should go to the police and the Curia to file a report. She also told me that since I was mentally ill what he did qualifies as abuse because I was vulnerable. After some time I had to abandon my lawyer because I did not have any money. A friend of mine advised me to go to the Victims Support Malta. I contacted them and they downloaded all the messages that Fr Charles use to send me. With these SMSs we went to Inspector Louise Calleja. The police had called him for interrogation and checked his mobile phone. "During this time I had a lot of interference. Archbishop Cremona use to call me regularly to tell me that I have a heart big enough to forgive. Another priest had told me not to rock the church. I use to feel insecure and confused so I decided to leave everything as it is." February 2012 - October 2012 "On 14 February, Valentine's Day, I was at home alone and started to think about him. I felt I was being let down that both the police and the Curia did not give me a reply. On that day I decided to drop all charges against him so I sent him an email about my decision. He phoned me on my home number and told me what the police did to him. They locked him up, took his mobile and he spent a day without his pills. In fact his Provincial had to take them for him. From my side I told him what he did to me and what I went through. He then told me to stop here with all this and wanted us to start seeing each other again at my place every two weeks (alternate Saturdays). I would like to emphasise that at no point did he make an apology or thank me for dropping all charges. "He used to tell me that if I want to see him every Saturday I had to go and pick him up myself from the convent, do the usual acts, feed him and drive him back. This was done every Saturday until 14 October because the day after I broke my leg. He continued sending his usual messages and calling me by phone. "During this time Fr Charles told me to go to the Curia and drop the case and say that I gave a false testimony because I was pressured by a friend of mine. "In July he organised a trip to Lourdes. He told me that as an appreciation that I forgave him he was going to take me and my uncle with him on this trip. He paid 600 euros of the expenses while I paid the rest. My uncle knew what was going on and that I ended up obsessed about him. Fr Charles had told me that when we would go to Lourdes he is going to give me a lot of attention because we were not in Malta. On the same trip, on one particular evening Fr Charles came to my room to have oral sex with me. I refused because I told him that in the morning when I visited the holy baths, I asked the Virgin Mary for forgiveness. His response was that if we do it Holy Mary will still love me. "When we came back from Lourdes I wanted to stop this relationship. He used to tell me that he wanted peace between us or else he will end up at Mount Carmel." November 2012 - present "I went back to the Victims Support Group and together with them we went to the Curia to open the case again. I told the Victim Support Group that when he used to ask for sexual pleasures he used to remove the cross hanging around his neck. He also used to ask me to shave his tummy, chest, back and hands with a machine that he used to bring with him at home." 13 March 2013 "I submitted this sworn affidavit before a notary and Commissioner for Oaths and 6 days later I went to Inspector Louise Calleja and filed a criminal complaint." April 2013 "The court started to hear the case on 25 November but in this and the other two sittings that followed (1 April 2014 and 22 October 2014) Fr. Charles presented a medical certificate and the case was not continued. The case will continue on 17 December."
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