BishopAccountability.org

Victims ...

By Ennifer Smith
Daily Mail
February 7, 2015

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2842853/Victims-paedophile-priests-Catholic-seminary-Yorkshire-speak-horrendous-1960s-abuse-British-police-plead-Italian-forces-extradite-living-cleric-questioning.html

Gerry McLaughlin (pictured front centre, with his arms folded) was just 11 when he went to Mirfrield Junior Seminary where he was abused by Fr John Pinkman (right)

Mark Murray aged 13 at the house in Mirfield, Yorkshire, in March 1969

Mirfield Junior Seminary in Yorkshire where the men say they were subjected to routine sexual abuse as children in the 1960s and 70s

Victims of paedophile priests at Catholic seminary in Yorkshire speak of horrendous 1960s abuse as British police plead with Italian forces to extradite the last living cleric for questioning
 

The victims of paedophile priests who sexually assaulted them as young boys in a Catholic seminary have spoken out against their abusers forty years after leaving the religious Order.

The men, most of whom are now in their sixties, were given sums of money by Comboni Missionaries - formerly known as the Verona Fathers - in October last year following a lengthy civil court case.

While two of their abusers are dead, another alleged assailant is still alive and living out his final days in the Order's Mother House in Verona.

West Yorkshire Police have implored him to return to the UK for questioning but Italian authorities have deemed him unfit to travel.

Despite compensating each of the men, Comboni Missionaries did not accept last month that all had been abused and rejected the claim that sexual assault was embedded in its culture.

Now, 40 years after leaving Mirfield Junior Seminary in Yorkshire, the men have waived their right to anonymity to tell of the depraved abuse they fell victim to.

Gerry McLaughlin, who now lives in Ireland, was taken to Mirfield in 1964 at the age of 11.

'I'd just turned 11 in June. A priest came round the school and gave a talk, there may have been slides,' he told MailOnline.

'It sounded great, they spoke of the missions in Africa and of all the animals there.

'They asked who wanted to go and I was the only one who went from my class.'

Shortly after arriving at the house, the man, now 61, said he felt uneasy.

'I was a bit surprised on the first day when the parents were told to leave by 7pm.

'Later, I said to one of the guys "look let's take a stroll down there" and he said "You can't, you're not allowed to go out."

'In terms of the sexual abuse, I didn't know that that's what it was, I just knew I didn't like it.'

Mr McLaughlin says he was routinely abused by Father John Pinkman, the cleric in charge of the youngest boys in the seminary.

Two years after arriving there, the then 13-year-old left for a different life.

Other boys were subjected to depravity when being treated for illness by Mirfield's Infirmian, Father Domenico Valmaggia.

Brian Hennessy recalls routine abuse when being treated for pain in his kidneys.

'I ended up in hospital for a couple of weeks undergoing tests,' he said.

'Back at Mirfield, Father Valmaggia had a remedy for this condition.

'He confined me to the infirmary and supplied me with large bottles of lemonade each day to wash out the system,' he said.

'Locking the door behind him he would tell me to take off my pyjamas and kneel on the edge of the bed.'

Father John Pinkman died in South Africa in 1984 of a heart attack. Father Valmaggia, in Italy in 2011, with neither of the men ever having to face police questioning.

Despite never seeing their abusers face prosecution, the men decided to launch a civil case against Comboni Missionaries in 2012 seeking damages for the abuse they claim to have endured.

A settlement was arranged with each of the men, though the Order has yet to acknowledge any abuse took place to the anguish of its alumni.

'It never was the money at all, money was never our priority,' added Mr McLaughlin, who was awarded £8,000.    

One man, accused of carrying out a deep and disturbing relationship with another of the seminary's former pupils when he was 13, is still alive.

The elderly man, who MailOnline has chosen not to name, is said to be too ill to face extradition for police questioning.

His alleged victim, Mark Murray, said the abuse was so shrouded in religious context he came to believe he was living closer to God by submitting himself.   

'He began kissing me and told me about the breath of life.  

'The abuse was progressive and relied heavily on religion to justify what he was doing to me.'

Mr Murray contacted the Order House in Italy with his claims, but was told the priest, now a frail man in his eighties, was not of sound enough mind or body to either face extradition or carry out official duties.

While it has never publicly acknowledged that any abuse was carried out, the Order added that the man was being kept out of the reach of children.

A 2008 photograph of him performing a religious ceremony while standing next to a young girl in Italy however prompted Mr Murray to contact the West Yorkshire Police.

Despite their efforts, they say all avenues have been exhausted in moving the investigation along.  

'This is a long running and complicated investigation which dates back to alleged offences that were committed in the 1960s,' said Detective Inspector Michael Brown.

'There is an individual who we would like to speak to in connection with these allegations. This person left the UK for Italy at the time of the alleged offences and has not returned since then.
The abuse was progressive and relied heavily on religion to justify what he was doing to me

'In Spring 2013, new evidence came to light and we reopened the case with the hope of bringing someone to justice.

'We have conducted a thorough investigation and have been in close liaison with the authorities in Italy and the Catholic Church but, unfortunately we need to interview the suspect in this case and he is unable to travel from Italy voluntarily due to ill health.

'All legal avenues have been pursued to enforce his return to UK but his ill health means we are unable to go through the formal procedures to extradite him.

'The investigation is not closed but has reached a point where we can't go any further.'

When contacted by MailOnline, the Comboni Missionaries said it was 'dismayed' by allegations of abuse and had cooperated with police enquiries - but would not acknowledge that any of the men had been abused despite damages having been awarded.

'It was with great sadness and regret that the Verona Fathers learned that a number of allegations of historical abuse had been made relating to our former junior seminary, St Peter’s, located in Mirfield, West Yorkshire,' said Fr Martin Devenish, Provincial Superior of the London Province of the Verona Fathers.  

'We know that anyone subjected to abusive behaviour will experience suffering and we are dismayed to think that such suffering may have been caused to youngsters who attended our junior seminary.

'If that is the case, we are deeply sorry to anyone who has been hurt in this way and our thoughts and prayers are with them.'

 




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