BishopAccountability.org

'Evil monster' paedophile priest, 96, ruined the lives of 10 boys

By Neil Docking
Liverpool Echo
July 28, 2020

https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/evil-monster-paedophile-priest-96-18676701

Father John Kevin Murphy, 96, formerly of St George's Court, Maghull

Father John Kevin Murphy ahead of his sentencing in 2017

[with video]

One of Father John Murphy's six new victims even felt unable to visit his mum's grave

An "evil monster" paedophile priest who ruined the lives of 10 children was locked up again - at the age of 96.

Father John Murphy was jailed for three years in December 2017, for molesting four boys during the 1960s and 1970s.

The pervert, from Kirkdale, used swimming lessons, "exercise sessions" and camping trips to interfere with children as young as eight.

The Catholic priest had the gall to suggest he was sorry for the sickening abuse, yet claimed he "couldn't remember" it.

One victim - Stephen Armstrong-Smith - waived his right to anonymity and previously told the ECHO about his ordeal and suicide attempts.

Liverpool Crown Court today heard his bravery led to five out of six more victims coming forward, which landed the predator back behind bars.

The OAP sat with his head hung in shame, as one victim broke down in tears while outlining the devastating abuse.

Another man said he was so traumatised by Murphy helping at his mum's funeral that he felt unable to visit her grave for a decade.

Murphy worked at St Luke's Parish in Whiston, and the attached St Edmund Arrowsmith Catholic School, between 1962 and 1974.

He began molesting children in his 30s and continued into his 50s, with the abuse of these six victims from 1960 to 1987.

Arthur Gibson, prosecuting, said: "The picture that emerges from the two cases is that for some 27 years the defendant was a predatory paedophile who used his position as a Catholic priest to groom and subsequently abuse at least 10 children."

Murphy put his hands inside boys' swimming trunks during lessons to touch their genitals, got them to touch his genitals, and rubbed against one while naked in changing rooms, under the pretext he was "drying" him.

That boy - abused when eight - said Murphy also visited his home for "exercise" sessions, until one day his mum asked if he had touched him, meaning he never saw or heard from Murphy again, until a relative told him of an ECHO report.

That victim said he was never comforted or counselled by his parents, who he thought were "too intimidated and shocked by this betrayal, having placed so much trust in a Catholic priest", meaning it was "swept under the carpet".

The man said: "They understandably trusted a man who they regarded as a friend and would never have suspected him of being so evil."

An altar boy at St Alphonsus in Kirkdale said Murphy groped his genitals during swimming lessons, when he was aged nine to 11.

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He told no one until he confided in his wife after seeing a TV report about Murphy being jailed.

A third boy was abused when 11 or 12, having attended St Edmund Arrowsmith Roman Catholic Secondary School in Ashton in Makerfield, Wigan, when Murphy was a priest at nearby St Oswald's Presbytery.

He said Murphy took him on walks and asked about the size of his genitals, before molesting him during swimming lessons in Liverpool.

The fourth boy was abused when aged between 10 and 14, while visiting family in Kirkdale, in the parish of St Alphonsus, where Murphy was a priest.

He too was abused when swimming and recalled another boy calling out "is he doing it to you", before Murphy performed a sex act on him in changing rooms, and in the equipment room of a school gym.

Mr Gibson said Murphy also took this child to his own home in Kirkdale, where he performed a sex act him, and the boy vomited.

The victim recalled how years later, when his son told him he was getting married in a Catholic church, he became upset, and rather than being delighted or proud, wondered whether that priest was also a child abuser.

A fifth boy was abused when aged 11 to 15 and living in Rainhill, when Murphy was a priest at St Luke the Evangelist in Whiston.

Murphy visited the boy's home to abuse him - including an occasion when he made him perform oral sex - molested him at swimming lessons, and at his own home, but the victim felt he couldn't tell his devout Catholic parents.

The man today said the priest "betrayed" his family, adding: "I lived in sheer terror and dread of Murphy, who took what should have been memorable years away from me and left dark, sinister memories."

He suffered nightmares and described Murphy turning up at his mum's funeral, which meant he couldn't attend her grave.

The man said: "My dad would ask me why I would not go with him to mum's grave to pay my respects. I would have to lie to him and make excuses as to why I did not go."

The sixth victim, who came forward due to suffering flashbacks and nightmares, was abused from the age of 11 to 15, when an altar boy at the parish of St Gabrielle's in Leigh, Wigan.

He was molested while swimming and when Murphy visited his home, but felt unable to speak out because the priest had such a "massive position" in the community.

The boy was sexually assaulted by Murphy in a tent for altar boys and further abused on camping trips in the UK and France.

After he started crying, Mr Gibson read the man's statement, in which he said: "I have a deep seated anger towards my parents as they were unable to protect me or were too naive to see the paedophile Murphy for what he was.

"Their devotion to their religion blinded them in the face of a monster using his job as a priest to abuse me and other children."

Mr Gibson said the Crown didn't accept Murphy couldn't remember his crimes, without any medical evidence to support this claim, and he could have told police there were other victims in 2017, if not remembered specific details.

Murphy, formerly of St George's Court, Maghull, now of Hillside Crescent, Horwich, Bolton, admitted 32 counts of indecent assault and indecency with a child.

Lee Bonner, defending, said Murphy was released from his last sentence in May 2019 and "in all likelihood had not many years left".

He said Murphy had "poor health", common for someone of his age, and was cared for by his 89-year-old brother, in court.

Mr Bonner said: "The defendant has expressed his sorrow and that he is deeply sorry for the pain, harm and distress which his past conduct has caused now over the two cases to 10 separate complainants."

He said his client was deemed "a low risk of re-offending" and urged the judge to keep any prison sentence "as short as possible, to give Mr Murphy the hope at least of breathing free air once more, in what little time he has left".

Mr Bonner said Murphy didn't remember the crimes and if he could have disclosed there were more victims, it would have been "unrealistic" for him to have set out the details.

Judge Anil Murray told Murphy he used his "position and standing in society" to commit crimes and "cover them up".

He said: "Due to your position in the church you were greatly respected - possibly revered - and you abused that trust."

The judge said Murphy's crimes had a "devastating impact" on his victims for decades.

He added: "It is no exaggeration to say you have ruined many lives."

Judge Murray said Murphy claimed he had no memory of the abuse and "cannot recall any attraction to males".

He said: "I'm afraid I cannot accept that, especially in light of the evidence of the psychologist who says you do not present with any significant neuropsychological impairment.

"I cannot therefore accept that your expression of remorse is genuine."

Judge Murray said Murphy served in the Army and RAF and did charity work, but he didn't accept this was evidence of "good character".

He said: "You were effectively living a lie and you were using your good character and standing in society in order to commit these offences and get away with them for so long."

Judge Murray jailed Murphy for five years and told him to sign on the Sex Offenders Register for life, before the paedophile hobbled out of the dock using a crutch.




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