Serial Child Abuser and Ex-priest to Serve More Time in Jail for Sexual Assault on Young Girl

Kildare Nationalist
January 12, 2016

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/2016/01/12/serial-child-abuser-and-ex-priest-to-serve-more-time-in-jail-for-sexual-assault-on-young-girl/

Tony Walsh of North Circular Road in Dublin is already serving a 16-year sentence for the rape and abuse of three schoolboys.

In the late 1970s, Tony Walsh used to perform as an Elvis impersonator with an All Priests Show and became known as the "singing priest".

But away from the stage act, he was a child abuser, who was eventually defrocked by Pope John Paul II.

In 2010, the 61-year-old was jailed for 16 years for abusing boys in the 70s and 80s. He will now spend an extra year in prison for indecently assaulting a young girl.

His trial heard the girl was between seven and 10 years old when he forced himself on her at a parish hall in Dublin sometime between April 1973 and September 1976. Walsh was aged between 19 and 22 at the time.

Walsh was studying to be a priest at the time and used to help out at the hall.

In handing down sentence today, Judge Catherine Murphy said she was unable to find any mitigating factors in this case, and she noted his complete lack of regret or remorse and the damaging, long-term effects his actions have had on his victim, now aged 50.

In her victim impact report, the woman said she blamed herself for the assault and for bringing “this awful shame” on her family. A psychological report found she felt dirty growing up and had suffered panic attacks.