Former Priest Admits Further Child Abuse

By John Cassidy
UTV
March 12, 2015

http://www.u.tv/News/2015/03/12/Former-priest-admits-further-child-abuse-33427

Curran arrives at an early court hearing. ©Pacemaker

Father Daniel Curran of Bryansford Avenue, Newcastle, Co Down, appeared in the dock of Downpatrick Crown Court flanked by a female prison officer on Thursday.

Defence counsel Jim Gallagher QC asked Judge Piers Grant that the 64-year-old be re-arraigned on two charges he faced dating back almost 25 years.

Curran, dressed in a long green overcoat and wearing glasses, pleaded guilty to one count of gross indecency towards a boy and also admitted a single charge of indecent assault on the same victim who is now aged 31.

The offences took place between August 1990 and August 1993 at a cottage owned by his family in the seaside village of Tyrella, Co Down when the victim was aged between seven and 10.

Mr Gallagher QC said Curran had committed no further offences in over 20 years since his first arrest by police and had received treatment in England for his addiction to alcohol.

"He no longer drinks alcohol,'' he added.

The defence QC said it would be the fifth time that Curran would be sentenced for crimes of a similar nature relating to the same incident at the cottage.

The court heard that Curran was first sentenced in 1995 to seven years in custody.

In 2005, he received an 18 month sentence suspended for three years.

The following year, the priest was handed down a 14 month sentence and in 2012 received a four year sentence which was later reduced to three years by the Court of Appeal.

Earlier in Thursday's proceedings, Curran's defence team had failed in an effort to have the case against him thrown out.

Mr Gallagher QC had asked the court to stay the proceedings against Curran saying: "He does not remember this complainant.

“He is not saying that the allegation is not true, it is simple that he can't recall.

"He is saying: 'It could have happened but I can't remember'.

“He was heavily intoxicated at the time, he was abusing alcohol, and the difficulty is that this was 20 odd years ago, it was a single short lived incident and he does not recall this complainant.''

Judge Grant ordered that Curran re-sign the sex offenders' register before leaving the courthouse on continuing bail.

The judge also instructed the prosecution to review Curran's Sexual Offences Prevention Order to see if it needed to be amended in the light of his guilty pleas.

Curran is expected to be sentenced later this month.