UNITED KINGDOM
The Guardian
Sandra Laville
Friday 27 March 2015
A Catholic priest has been jailed for three years for abusing a boy at a children’s home, in the first case to emerge from allegations of a VIP paedophile ring at a guesthouse in south London.
Father Tony McSweeney, 68, was arrested in February 2013 at his parish in St George’s, Norwich, where he was a respected member of the establishment. He was a member of the governing body of a Catholic school and at one time had served as part-time chaplain for Norwich football club.
When he was arrested officers found indecent images of boys on his computer, and evidence presented to his trial revealed that he had been offending as far back as the 1970s when he began training for the priesthood.
His trial heard how for four decades he was an active paedophile, and that the church and the authorities, including the Catholic church, ignored at least two clear warning signs of his sexual interest in children.
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