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High Court orders religious order to provide files...
By Tim Healy
High Court orders religious order to provide files on sex abuse accused priests before hearing A religious order must provide files in advance of a court hearing on two of its priests alleged to have sexually abused pupils in a Dublin school in the 1970s. any such liability. The Holy Ghost Fathers have been ordered by the High Court to provide a victim with its files and any details of what the Order did about complaints against the priests. The victim, a man the Holy Ghost Fathers accepts was abused by the two priests, alleges the Order failed to act on or report the complaints and caused, permitted and allowed the abuse of children to continue when they knew, or should have known, abuse was occurring. The Holy Ghost Fathers have admitted they were negligent and, in a solicitor's letter, have apologised to the man and offered to discuss a settlement. They deny he is entitled to punitive, aggravated or exemplary damages. They also deny vicariously liable for the acts or wrongs of the two priests but, given the admission of negligence, say the man does not have to prove any such liability. Mr Justice Paul McDermott granted various discovery orders to the man for his civil action seeking aggravated damages against the order for sexual assaults on him when he was a pupil at St Mary's College, Lower Rathmines, Dublin, between 1971 and 1974. The documents include all material related to the order's engagement or employment of Fr Henry Maloney and the late Fr Arthur Carragher, including details of any complaints received about them, any transfer of them and the reasons for that. The Holy Ghost Fathers must also provide any communications between them and the Archdiocese of Dublin concerning the man's complaints against the two priests. The man alleges both the Holy Ghost Congregation and the Archdiocese of Dublin knew Fr Maloney was a serial abuser before he himself was abused. The man also claims the Archbishop of Dublin was entirely unaware of his complaints until the man himself told him about it 2010. The Order must also disclose dcuments related to criminal investigations and prosecutions concerning the two priests in relation to the man and other pupils at Sr Mary's. The man's action was initiated in 2010 against Fr Maloney, Fr Carragher (who died in Canada in 2011) and a representative of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost Fathers) as owner and operator of St Mary's College at the relevant time. Fr Maloney was found guilty in 2009 of abusing him and another man when both were pupils at St Mary’s and was given a suspended sentence due to ill-health. He was previously convicted of child abuse in 2000 and served an 18-month sentence. The man claims he has been permanently and adversely affected by the assaults with his education and employment adversely affected. In a judgment on pre-trial disclosure matters, Mr Justice McDermott ordered discovery of all communications concerning criminal investigations and/or prosecutions of both priests in relation to the man and any other pupil of St Mary's while the priests were there.
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