BishopAccountability.org
	Supreme Court Allows Trial of Man Accused of Sex Abuse One in Four April 27, 2008 http://www.oneinfour.org/news/news2008/allows/ THE supreme Court has cleared the way for the trial of a man accused of sexually abusing a troubled man who has alleged he was abused from childhood by other men. The alleged victim operated as a teenage prostitute and met the accused at age 13, was sexually abused by him and was introduced by him to other men for sex. By a two-to-one majority - with Mr Justice Nial Fennelly and Mr Justice Nicholas Kearns agreeing and Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman dissenting - the court yesterday allowed the DPP's appeal against a High Court order stopping the man's trial. The accused is facing trial on charges of buggery and indecent assault of the now 39-year-old complainant relating to alleged offences between 1982 and 1983. A complaint was made in 1996, the accused was charged in October 1999, returned for trial in 2001 and then took judicial review proceedings to stop the trial. The alleged victim claims he was sexually abused by several men from a very young age, beginning with a priest at the age of six or seven. He acted as a teenage male prostitute and was "hooked on sex". He claimed he met the accused man when he was 13 and was subject to acts of sexual abuse by him over a two-year period. Mr Justice Fennelly said the man said he was treated by a clinical psychologist, Clare Moran, from 1994 to 1996, who had decided she was ethically bound to report the claims and had told the man she would not continue to treat him unless he reported the alleged abuse to garda. Ms Moran had in 1995 and 1996 reported the man's claims of abuse by two other named men to social workers. In January 1996 she reported the man's claims. An "assiduous" Garda investigation into the claims continued between 1997 and 1999, and the accused was charged in October 1999, the judge noted. Rejecting the accused's claim of a serious risk of unfair trial due to delay, Mr Justice Fennelly said the garda were dealing with an extremely complex case involving "a network of sexual abuse . . . and sordid world of male prostitution". The judge found the High Court was wrong to hold there was a serious risk of an unfair trial due to non-availability of witnesses, including Ms Moran. Mr Justice Hardiman said he believed there was a risk of an unfair trial on grounds of inordinate prosecutorial delay during which a witness of importance, Ms Moran, had ceased to be available. He was "aghast" at the idea of trying the man in the absence of this evidence. Ms Moran's notes of sessions with the man suggested, the judge said, an ability "turn on and off his 'victim status' and to 'get hysterical' at will". These and many other issues arose from the notes but, because of the absence of Ms Moran, it would not be possible to establish many important matters.
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