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	RC Priest Admits to Sex Abuse Times & Star [United Kingdom] April 28, 2006 http://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/viewarticle.aspx?id=360416 A FORMER Workington priest has admitted from his prison cell that he sexually abused a former altar boy at the town's main Catholic Church, Our Lady and St Michael's. This is the first time that the authorities have been able to confirm that the disgraced ex-Benedictine monk Gregory Carroll committed offences while in Workington. But the distraught victim, now 27, will never have his day in court because the Crown Prosecution Service has decided not to take out a further prosecution against the 66-year-old, who is serving four years for other sexual offences. David Hansford, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the decision not to prosecute was not made for any lack of evidence but because it was not "in the public interest". He said: "The defendant is 66, he is already in jail, and he will be on the Sex Offenders' register for the rest of his life." He added that it was unlikely that the jail sentence would be changed by a further prosecution. Police appealed against the decision, but it was upheld by Mr Hansford's superiors. The decision has been roundly criticised by victim groups. Chairwoman of West Cumbria Rape Crisis, Carol Tindall, said the decision was "disappointing but not surprising." She added: "If you have a chance to get a conviction there should be a trial. "Each victim has a right to have their case heard. They deserve to know that they have been heard and people recognise what has happened to them. It is devastating to just be dismissed." The victim was nine or 10-years-old when he was abused by Carroll. His identity is protected by law but he now lives and works as a professional in the Home Counties, although he still has family and friends in West Cumbria. He said: "The CPS decision is very disappointing. I am the victim here of someone who I had placed my trust in and who the people of Workington trusted their children with. "Since I was eight, I have had to live every day knowing and remembering what he has done to me and thinking how many other Workington children he has hurt and damaged. "A childhood is meant to be innocent and happy, he took both of those away from me and stopped me going to church. "Every time I see a church or a priest that memory comes back to me." Carroll was jailed after admitting that he sexually abused 10 boys under the age of 15 while a teacher at exclusive Ampleforth College between 1973 and 1983. He was quietly removed from teaching when the offences came to light and moved to Workington to work as a priest among an unsuspecting community. At the time he went to prison, it was widely believed that he had kept his hands off children during his time in Workington - from 1987 until he retired in 2001. But he has now admitted abusing the altar boy three times. The admission, which also included an apology, was made in Hull Prison, in a statement read out to Workington CID officers in the presence of Carroll's solicitor. Carroll has already succeeded in getting his sentence reduced on appeal by one year.
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