MANCHESTER (ENGLAND)
Manchester Evening News
January 19, 2019
By Damon Wilkinson
A prominent Salford priest has pleaded for forgiveness from a woman who he had ‘sexual activity’ with when she was a teenager.
Father Peter Conniffe, formerly priest at Our Lady of Dolours in Salford, apologises to the woman in a letter seen by the M.E.N.
He was investigated by police after the woman – who met him after going to confession as a schoolgirl – made a complaint of historic sexual abuse.
The case was not pursued to criminal action, and Fr Conniffe denies ‘any accusation of sexual assault’.
However, the woman has been compensated by the religious order he belongs to, the Servite Order.
Following an investigation by the Roman Catholic church, the priest has stepped down from duties at Our Lady’s and from his role as chair of governors at St Philip’s RC Primary School.
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