UNITED KINGDOM
Yorkshire Post
Published on Saturday 20 October 2012
A ROMAN Catholic diocese which ordained a priest despite his dismissal for abusing boys at a children’s home received more abuse allegations after his ordination but did not report them to the police, the Yorkshire Post can reveal.
The Diocese of Middlesbrough, which appointed Joseph O’Brien to a series of clerical posts in Middlesbrough and North Yorkshire after he had been sacked from the St William’s children’s home in East Yorkshire, kept fresh allegations of abuse ‘in-house’ from 2000 onwards.
The latest revelations surrounding Father O’Brien, who served for 15 years in the parish of Thirsk until retirement in 1998, are contained in an executive summary of a report compiled by a Catholic child protection agency.
The Catholic Safeguarding Advisory Service (CSAS) carried out an inquiry following a Yorkshire Post investigation into the priest, who died in 2010. The summary reveals that the diocese kept two separate files, one of which – termed the ‘Bishop’s file’ – was only discovered last year.
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