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  Cloyne Report - Fr Corin

RTE News
July 13, 2011

http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0713/cloyne_corin.html

The report outlines the details of a woman who alleged she was abused by Fr Corin (not his real name).

The woman, identified in the report as Nia, claims the priest had put his hands under her clothes and touched her inappropriately.

She also had a recollection of being in a room naked with him and she claimed she had been abused by the priest for a number of years. He had moved into the parish when she was aged nine or ten.

The case was handed to Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan by Bishop John Magee, he spoke with Fr Corin about the allegation and he responded that there was never 'serious interference'.

However, Fr Corin did 'recall fondling of some girl', but he said nothing had happened since his posting to that parish.

Later he told Msgr O'Callaghan that Nia and he were very friendly and she was about nine years old when she started to visit.

He said he 'sometimes petted her and on occasion this went too far'. Monsignor O'Callaghan reported on the matter to his superiors and concluded, 'apart from what would today be classified as over-familiarity I did not find any evidence of sex abuse'.

The Commission finds that in this case 'it was clearly and unequivocally child sexual abuse' and says it cannot understand how the Monsignor concluded no sexual abuse had occurred.

Fr Corin admitted to fondling four to six children and had admitted to petting, which 'went too far'.

There was a second allegation from a woman identified as Oifa who, when around ten in the 1960s, recalled him sitting her on his lap in the sacristy of the church.

There is, according to the report, no evidence of a garda investigation into the case, but one garda said a file on the case was opened.

The report says that proper procedures in relation to the recording of notifications were not followed.

A garda search for all documents relating to the Commission's remit relating to Fr Corin uncovered nothing. The DPP can find no record of a file having been sent to him and the Commission says it accepts no file was sent.

The Fr Corin case was, according to the Commission, the first to arise after the Framework Document came into effect.

It finds no attempt to assess the priest was made to determine if he was a danger to other children, it also finds no attempt was made to establish the extent of his abusive behaviour.

The report states that the Commission does not accept that there was a proper Garda investigation of the complaints despite the fact that gardai insist an 'investigation' took place.

A statement from the second complained has, according to the Commission, 'vanished'.

The Commission concludes that it is 'surprised' gardai persist in maintaining there was an investigation of Nia's allegations and it says it is 'concerned' at the gardai's inability to explain what happened.

 
 

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