UNITED KINGDOM
Derby Telegraph
Sentencing Francis Paul Cullen to 15 years at Derby Crown Court, Judge Jonathan Gosling told him:
“Francis Cullen, you are now 85 years old. You were ordained a Catholic priest in 1953.
You were assigned to the parish of Mackworth very shortly afterwards. You soon began sexually abusing boys as young as seven years old.
The abuse continued throughout your ministry, spanning a period of no less than 34 years, in your successive parishes of Mackworth, then Buxton, and finally in Nottingham.
f anyone were ignorant of the irrevocable damage which sexual crimes by an adult – more particularly by a man in your position – how fully they would be informed by hearing the victim impact statements in this case.
You carried on the abuse, undeterred by the gossip and rumour you were beginning to generate.
As early as 1964, you were challenged by the parents of one of your victims, S. That complaint was reported to the diocesan hierarchy. A senior member of the clergy had a meeting with the boy’s parents. Nothing was done to remove you from the parish.
You went on to commit, in the same parish, the most serious forms of abuse against your principal victim, M.
You were able to continue getting away with your crimes for two reasons. First, because of the position you held. In the years that you practised in the Catholic ministry, devout parishioners revered the priest, and trusted him without question.
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