Thursday, December 29, 2011

Priest accused of 55 child sex crimes in Ireland is deported from Brazil after eight years on the run protected by the catholic church

Priest accused of 55 child sex crimes in Ireland is deported from Brazil after eight years on the run protected by the catholic church
" The fugitive Catholic priest accused of 55 child sex crimes has been deported from Brazil after eight years on the run, it was reported today. Father Peter Kennedy, 72, was a the centre of a major abuse scandal in 2003 after one of his victims was awarded £271,000 - the largest known pay-out in a clerical sex abuse case in Ireland. The man claimed the priest had raped him as a 13-year-old boy after coming to his family's County Sligo home to administer the last rites to his father, who was dying of cancer.

Kennedy disappeared weeks later after it emerged up to 18 other individuals had come forward, accusing him of a catalogue of abuse stretching back to the 1980s. More alleged victims have since made themselves known to police. At the time, the cleric was rumoured to have fled to Brazil, and in 2004 Interpol issued a 'blue notice' against him, formally requesting his capture and deportation.

Kennedy is now known to have used a British passport to travel from London to Brazil, where he settled in Osasco, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, and made a living by teaching English. Brazil's Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported today that federal police had been following the priest's movements for the last four months, but didn't make an arrest before necessary deportation documents had been finalised. A police source told the newspaper that, as Brazil and Ireland don't have a formal extradition treaty, police acted with deliberate caution so as not to arouse suspicion and allow Kennedy time to make legal attempts to block his deportation."



No comments:

Post a Comment