- Paedophile witch Robin Fletcher wants supervision conditions eased
Convicted rapist has spent nearly more than nine years under strict order after serving jail sentence.
- Former Archbishop Dies Ahead of Vatican Child Abuse Trial
Jozef Wesolowski had been the most senior Vatican official arrested on allegations of child sex abuse
- Inquiry into historic child abuse to focus on homes allegations
Cardinal Sean Brady leaves after giving evidence to the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry at Banbridge Courthouse, County Down
Paedophile witch Robin Fletcher wants supervision conditions eased
September 1, 2015 Mark Russell
Convicted rapist has spent nearly more than nine years under strict order after serving jail sentence.
Robin Fletcher is living in a facility for offenders who have finished their sentences but are deemed an unacceptable risk of reoffending. Photo: Craig Abraham
Paedophile witch Robin Angas Fletcher wants authorities to relax the conditions of a strict supervision order he has been under since 2006.
Fletcher, 59, who is legally blind, has been living in the Corella Place sex offender facility in Ararat since his release after serving eight years' jail for raping and prostituting two 15-year-old girls.
He had pleaded guilty to three counts of committing an indecent act with a child under the age of 16, one count of sexual penetration of a person between 10 and 16, one count of child prostitution and one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Under his current supervision order, Fletcher is not allowed to have access to whips or chains capable of providing sexual stimulus, his internet access to sites has to be approved by authorities and he has to comply with electronic monitoring.....
In an interview with Fairfax Media in July this year, Fletcher said he was not confident of being released in June 2016.
"They believe that because I'm a witch, I'm a Satanist," he said. "They also believe all Satanists are liars. I can express remorse and they can say, 'But you're lying.' I can say, 'I don't intend to reoffend', and they simply say, 'But you're lying.'"
During a review of Fletcher's extended supervision order in 2010, the Court of Appeal outlined how Fletcher had been working as a drug abuse and sexual guidance youth counsellor in South Caulfield in the 1990s when he subjected two vulnerable 15-year-old girls to violent sexual acts.
"These acts involved their being whipped and beaten on their naked backs and buttocks with objects including a riding crop, causing pain and physical injury," the appeal judges said.
"He [Fletcher] explained his behaviour as being part of a pagan ritual, justified by his religious beliefs which he described as 'Wiccan'.
"Subsequent to his arrest for these offences he sought the assistance of a fellow prisoner to have the two girls killed so that they could not give evidence against him."....
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/paedophile-witch-robin-fletcher-wants-supervision-conditions-eased-20150901-gjcaba.html
Former Archbishop Dies Ahead of Vatican Child Abuse Trial
Jozef Wesolowski had been the most senior Vatican official arrested on allegations of child sex abuse
By Liam Moloney Aug. 28, 2015
VATICAN CITY—The former papal nuncio to the Dominican Republic, who was under house arrest on charges of child abuse and possession of child pornography, died early Friday, according to the Vatican.
The Vatican said in a statement initial indications were that Jozef Wesolowski, the Polish born-priest who had been the most senior Vatican official arrested on allegations of child sex abuse so far, had died of natural causes....
Mr. Wesolowski, 67, was recalled as ambassador to the Caribbean country in 2013, after a five-year posting, in the wake of reports of sexual misconduct.
He was defrocked as archbishop by a Vatican tribunal last year for sexual abuse of minors in the Dominican Republic. In June, after the pope gave his permission, a Vatican criminal court indicted him on charges of sexually abusing boys in the Dominican Republic and of possessing child pornography. He had been under house arrest inside the Vatican awaiting the start of his trial....
http://www.wsj.com/articles/former-archbishop-dies-ahead-of-vatican-child-abuse-trial-1440759820
Inquiry into historic child abuse to focus on homes allegations
31/08/2015
Cardinal Sean Brady leaves after giving evidence to the Historical Institutional Abuse inquiry at Banbridge Courthouse, County Down
A long-running public inquiry will examine allegations of historic child abuse at juvenile justice institutions when it resumes this week....
In June, the HIA, spent a week examining the failings that allowed notorious paedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth to continue abusing children over four decades.
Retired Catholic Primate Cardinal Sean Brady was among those who gave evidence and said he hoped light would be shed on a "dark chapter" in the church's history.
The inquiry was set up in January 2013 by the Northern Ireland Executive to investigate child abuse which occurred in residential institutions over a 73-year period from 1922 to 1995.
A total of 16 child care facilities are under investigation and around 300 witnesses are expected to give evidence....
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/northern-ireland/inquiry-into-historic-child-abuse-to-focus-on-homes-allegations-31490453.html
Showing posts with label Fr Brendan Smyth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fr Brendan Smyth. Show all posts
Monday, August 31, 2015
Friday, June 8, 2012
Abuse victim believes Irish pedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth murdered an American child, Smyth victim rejects abbot's apology
Abuse victim believes Irish pedophile priest Fr Brendan Smyth murdered an American child
Helen McGonigle draws connection between Smyth’s threat and discovery of body
By KERRY O’SHEA, IrishCentral Staff Writer June 8, 2012
Helen McGonigle, who was sexually abused by Irish priest Brendan Smyth when she was six years old, believes the priest also murdered a child during his time in Rhode Island. McGonigle says that Smyth warned her by saying she would "end up like the body in the woods" if she told anyone about the abuse. The Anglo-Celt reports on the connection McGonigle made between Smyth’s chilling comments and the finding of a child’s remains in the woods near her school in the 1960s. The discovery of the body, however, came about after Smyth laid down his threat on young McGonigle.... Brendan Smyth had bounced around parishes in Ireland, Wales and the US, committing unthinkable abuses on over 100 children along the way. http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Abuse-victim-believes-Irish-pedophile-priest-Fr-Brendan-Smyth-murdered-an-American-child-158092635.html
Smyth victim rejects abbot's apology
Helen McGonigle with her brother Gerard and has described the apology to the victims of Brendan Smyth as an insult. Paul Neilan June 8, 2012
An American abuse survivor has criticised the apology of Fr Brendan Smyth's former abbot, which The Anglo-Celt printed last week, and has launched her search for answers. Attorney Helen McGonigle, who features in our lead story this week, has sent a fax addressed to the former abbot, Fr Kevin A Smith, at Holy Trinity Abbey, Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, requesting the abbey "provide[s] me with a copy of the entire file at the abbey on Fr Brendan Smyth". The fax, which has an accompanying letter, is dated May 31, two days after Fr Smith released a statement apologising to victims of the paedophile Brendan Smyth. Smyth started abusing McGonigle in 1967, in Rhode Island, when she was six before Kevin Smith became abbot. http://www.anglocelt.ie/news/roundup/articles/2012/06/08/4010802-smyth-victim-rejects-abbots-apology/
Helen McGonigle draws connection between Smyth’s threat and discovery of body
By KERRY O’SHEA, IrishCentral Staff Writer June 8, 2012
Helen McGonigle, who was sexually abused by Irish priest Brendan Smyth when she was six years old, believes the priest also murdered a child during his time in Rhode Island. McGonigle says that Smyth warned her by saying she would "end up like the body in the woods" if she told anyone about the abuse. The Anglo-Celt reports on the connection McGonigle made between Smyth’s chilling comments and the finding of a child’s remains in the woods near her school in the 1960s. The discovery of the body, however, came about after Smyth laid down his threat on young McGonigle.... Brendan Smyth had bounced around parishes in Ireland, Wales and the US, committing unthinkable abuses on over 100 children along the way. http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Abuse-victim-believes-Irish-pedophile-priest-Fr-Brendan-Smyth-murdered-an-American-child-158092635.html
Smyth victim rejects abbot's apology
Helen McGonigle with her brother Gerard and has described the apology to the victims of Brendan Smyth as an insult. Paul Neilan June 8, 2012
An American abuse survivor has criticised the apology of Fr Brendan Smyth's former abbot, which The Anglo-Celt printed last week, and has launched her search for answers. Attorney Helen McGonigle, who features in our lead story this week, has sent a fax addressed to the former abbot, Fr Kevin A Smith, at Holy Trinity Abbey, Kilnacrott, Ballyjamesduff, requesting the abbey "provide[s] me with a copy of the entire file at the abbey on Fr Brendan Smyth". The fax, which has an accompanying letter, is dated May 31, two days after Fr Smith released a statement apologising to victims of the paedophile Brendan Smyth. Smyth started abusing McGonigle in 1967, in Rhode Island, when she was six before Kevin Smith became abbot. http://www.anglocelt.ie/news/roundup/articles/2012/06/08/4010802-smyth-victim-rejects-abbots-apology/
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Vatican ‘has blood on hands’ over Smyth affair, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin calls for establishment of independent Fr Brendan Smyth inquiry
Archbishop Diarmuid Martin calls for establishment of independent Fr Brendan Smyth inquiry
Sunday, 6 May 2012
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has called for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of Fr Brendan Smyth, the late paedophile priest.
Dr Martin said such an inquiry was owed to victims and that it would be in the public interest that the full story, and not bits and pieces, should come out....
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0506/archbishop-martin-calls-for-smyth-inquiry.html
Vatican ‘has blood on hands’ over Smyth affair
By Claire O’Sullivan
Saturday, May 05, 2012
An American lawyer who was abused by Fr Brendan Smyth has said that the Vatican has "blood on its hands" for its failure to inform Irish Church authorities that it had censured Smyth for abuse in the United States years before the 1975 secret inquiry.
Helen McGonigle has learnt that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Religious issued a decree that Smyth wasn’t allowed to take Confession and was to be supervised following abuse complaints made in the late 60s.
Yet, in 1975 the Bishop of Kilmore and the Abbot of Killnacrott agreed a similar censure of Smyth — seemingly oblivious that a similar reprimand had already been handed down.
"Why didn’t the bishop or the abbot inform the Papal Nuncio of this second censure? Why weren’t they informed by the Vatican of the original censure? It is very clear that the 1968 censure was not enforced. What does all of this say about the organisation that is the Catholic Church," Ms McGonigle asked.
Ms McGonigle has pleaded with police on both sides of the border to investigate Cardinal Brady for his possible role in perverting the course of justice and endangering children.
She pointed to current cases being taken against Catholic priests in the US for failing to report abuse allegations to the civil authorities.
"They are enablers, Cardinal Brady and all these priests. That is what they were asked to do and that’s what they have done," she said.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/vatican-has-blood-on-hands-over-smyth-affair-192867.html
Sunday, 6 May 2012
The Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Dr Diarmuid Martin, has called for an independent international commission of inquiry into the crimes of Fr Brendan Smyth, the late paedophile priest.
Dr Martin said such an inquiry was owed to victims and that it would be in the public interest that the full story, and not bits and pieces, should come out....
http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0506/archbishop-martin-calls-for-smyth-inquiry.html
Vatican ‘has blood on hands’ over Smyth affair
By Claire O’Sullivan
Saturday, May 05, 2012
An American lawyer who was abused by Fr Brendan Smyth has said that the Vatican has "blood on its hands" for its failure to inform Irish Church authorities that it had censured Smyth for abuse in the United States years before the 1975 secret inquiry.
Helen McGonigle has learnt that the Vatican’s Congregation for the Religious issued a decree that Smyth wasn’t allowed to take Confession and was to be supervised following abuse complaints made in the late 60s.
Yet, in 1975 the Bishop of Kilmore and the Abbot of Killnacrott agreed a similar censure of Smyth — seemingly oblivious that a similar reprimand had already been handed down.
"Why didn’t the bishop or the abbot inform the Papal Nuncio of this second censure? Why weren’t they informed by the Vatican of the original censure? It is very clear that the 1968 censure was not enforced. What does all of this say about the organisation that is the Catholic Church," Ms McGonigle asked.
Ms McGonigle has pleaded with police on both sides of the border to investigate Cardinal Brady for his possible role in perverting the course of justice and endangering children.
She pointed to current cases being taken against Catholic priests in the US for failing to report abuse allegations to the civil authorities.
"They are enablers, Cardinal Brady and all these priests. That is what they were asked to do and that’s what they have done," she said.
http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/vatican-has-blood-on-hands-over-smyth-affair-192867.html
Sunday, December 4, 2011
Cardinal Brady settles latest claim by abuse victim he swore to secrecy
Cardinal settles with abuse victim - Cardinal Brady dismissed several calls for resignation last year over his handling of abuse allegations
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent November 30, 2011
A settlement has been agreed by Cardinal Seán Brady with a Co Louth man who was one of two teenagers he swore to secrecy in 1975 following his investigation into their allegations of abuse by Fr Brendan Smyth.
Brendan Boland (50) sued Dr Brady, the diocese of Kilmore and Smyth’s Norbertine Order.
The settlement was concluded in the High Court this morning.
Speaking after the settlement was announced, Mr Boland revealed that guilt plagued him when he heard Smyth, now dead, had continued to abuse children for years after he made a statement to three priests, including a then Fr Brady.
“I was devastated by this revelation,” he said in a handwritten statement given outside the court.
“The fact that Fr Smyth has been allowed to prey upon and abuse other children, subsequent to the assurances having being given, was very hard to bear," he said. "I felt I had not done enough. I felt responsible for the misery of Fr Smyth’s subsequent victims. My guilt plagued me.”
Mr Boland was sexually abused for two years by Smyth. It started in 1973 when he was just 12 years old.
He said that after he confided in a young priest, he was interrogated by three clerics conducting an Ecclesiastical Court - including Fr Brady - without his father present, and was required to swear on oath that he would not talk about the interview with anyone but an authorised priest.
“My parents, who were good God-fearing people, and I were assured that Fr Brendan Smyth would not be allowed to associate with young boys and girls and that there would be no recurrence of the abuse which I and other victims had suffered,” he said.
“As a result of these assurances, I felt safer and I hoped that the assurances would mean that others would not suffer as I had.”
It was not until 1994 that Smyth was convicted in a Belfast court of 17 counts of sexual abuse. Three years later in Dublin, he pleaded guilty to another 74 counts of child sexual abuse. Smyth died in prison in 1997.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1130/breaking39.htm
Cardinal Brady settles latest claim by abuse victim he swore to secrecy
Brendan Boland wins settlement and apology
By CATHAL DERVAN,IrishCentral Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
A leading Irish cardinal has reached a financial settlement with a victim of child abuse he swore to secrecy in 1975.
Cardinal Sean Brady has settled a case brought against him by Brendan Boland, one of two victims of infamous priest Fr Brendan Smyth.
The High Court in Dublin has been told that settlement has been reached in the case brought by Boland, now 50. The Cardinal settled a case with another victim Marie McCormack last year for a sum believed to be in the region of $350,000.
Both Boland and McCormack sued the Bishop, the diocese of Kilmore and Smyth’s Norbertine Order over their abuse cases in the 1970s.
Boland is expected to make a lengthy public statement on the scandal on Wednesday.
Cardinal Brady was informed of the abuse by both the victims in 1975 but ordered them to keep it secret.
McCormack’s case against Brady, when she alleged he covered up her claims that she was abused by Smyth between 1970 and 1975, was settled without admission of liability and included apologies by the defendants.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Cardinal-Brady-settles-latest-claim-by-abuse-victim-he-swore-to-secrecy-134741158.html
Beyond the grave, Smyth's evil acts have left his order with a huge cross to bear - With massive debt and dwindling numbers, the Norbertines have accepted their fate, writes Jerome Reilly
Sunday December 04 2011
THERE is now a headstone over the grave of Fr Brendan Smyth but though he is dead now for 14 years, the convicted child rapist still casts a long shadow over his abbey and the innocent priests from his order.
Now hideously in debt as a result of civil claims made against them, the Norbertine Order at Kilnacrott Abbey needs to sell the property -- but prospective buyers want all trace of Smyth and his horrific legacy removed before they will buy the abbey, just outside Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/beyond-the-grave-smyths-evil-acts-have-left-his-order-with-a-huge-cross-to-bear-2953546.html
PATSY McGARRY, Religious Affairs Correspondent November 30, 2011
A settlement has been agreed by Cardinal Seán Brady with a Co Louth man who was one of two teenagers he swore to secrecy in 1975 following his investigation into their allegations of abuse by Fr Brendan Smyth.
Brendan Boland (50) sued Dr Brady, the diocese of Kilmore and Smyth’s Norbertine Order.
The settlement was concluded in the High Court this morning.
Speaking after the settlement was announced, Mr Boland revealed that guilt plagued him when he heard Smyth, now dead, had continued to abuse children for years after he made a statement to three priests, including a then Fr Brady.
“I was devastated by this revelation,” he said in a handwritten statement given outside the court.
“The fact that Fr Smyth has been allowed to prey upon and abuse other children, subsequent to the assurances having being given, was very hard to bear," he said. "I felt I had not done enough. I felt responsible for the misery of Fr Smyth’s subsequent victims. My guilt plagued me.”
Mr Boland was sexually abused for two years by Smyth. It started in 1973 when he was just 12 years old.
He said that after he confided in a young priest, he was interrogated by three clerics conducting an Ecclesiastical Court - including Fr Brady - without his father present, and was required to swear on oath that he would not talk about the interview with anyone but an authorised priest.
“My parents, who were good God-fearing people, and I were assured that Fr Brendan Smyth would not be allowed to associate with young boys and girls and that there would be no recurrence of the abuse which I and other victims had suffered,” he said.
“As a result of these assurances, I felt safer and I hoped that the assurances would mean that others would not suffer as I had.”
It was not until 1994 that Smyth was convicted in a Belfast court of 17 counts of sexual abuse. Three years later in Dublin, he pleaded guilty to another 74 counts of child sexual abuse. Smyth died in prison in 1997.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/1130/breaking39.htm
Cardinal Brady settles latest claim by abuse victim he swore to secrecy
Brendan Boland wins settlement and apology
By CATHAL DERVAN,IrishCentral Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
A leading Irish cardinal has reached a financial settlement with a victim of child abuse he swore to secrecy in 1975.
Cardinal Sean Brady has settled a case brought against him by Brendan Boland, one of two victims of infamous priest Fr Brendan Smyth.
The High Court in Dublin has been told that settlement has been reached in the case brought by Boland, now 50. The Cardinal settled a case with another victim Marie McCormack last year for a sum believed to be in the region of $350,000.
Both Boland and McCormack sued the Bishop, the diocese of Kilmore and Smyth’s Norbertine Order over their abuse cases in the 1970s.
Boland is expected to make a lengthy public statement on the scandal on Wednesday.
Cardinal Brady was informed of the abuse by both the victims in 1975 but ordered them to keep it secret.
McCormack’s case against Brady, when she alleged he covered up her claims that she was abused by Smyth between 1970 and 1975, was settled without admission of liability and included apologies by the defendants.
http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Cardinal-Brady-settles-latest-claim-by-abuse-victim-he-swore-to-secrecy-134741158.html
Beyond the grave, Smyth's evil acts have left his order with a huge cross to bear - With massive debt and dwindling numbers, the Norbertines have accepted their fate, writes Jerome Reilly
Sunday December 04 2011
THERE is now a headstone over the grave of Fr Brendan Smyth but though he is dead now for 14 years, the convicted child rapist still casts a long shadow over his abbey and the innocent priests from his order.
Now hideously in debt as a result of civil claims made against them, the Norbertine Order at Kilnacrott Abbey needs to sell the property -- but prospective buyers want all trace of Smyth and his horrific legacy removed before they will buy the abbey, just outside Ballyjamesduff, Co Cavan.
http://www.independent.ie/opinion/analysis/beyond-the-grave-smyths-evil-acts-have-left-his-order-with-a-huge-cross-to-bear-2953546.html
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