IRELAND
Vatican Insider
The 72-year old Father Peter Kennedy of Ireland, accused of abusing 55 children, fled to South America eight years ago. The time for his extradition has come
GIACOMO GALEAZZI
Vatican City
His flight lasted eight years. The “Kennedy case” has long created confusion in public opinion, already shaken by what government reports have gradually revealed about pedophilia among Irish clergy. To evade justice, the 72-year-old Father Peter Kennedy (accused of sexually abusing 55 children in Ireland) had escaped to Brazil. Now the Brazilian authorities have ordered the extradition of the priest who was fired in 2003, in the middle of one of the major scandals of the Irish clergy. At 11 p.m. the evening of the notification of extradition, Father Kennedy was on a plane to London, where Irish officials were waiting for him. Eight years ago, one of his victims was granted compensation of €300,000 by the court. The boy had reported being raped by the priest when he was 13, after his family had moved to a home in County Sligo due to his father’s death from cancer.
Father Kennedy disappeared a few weeks after the trial ended, after which an additional 18 victims came forward, accusing him of various abuses dating back to 1980. Gradually, the police found more and more victims, and his position soon became very serious. At that time it was already believed that the priest had fled to Brazil and, in 2004, according to the Daily Mail, Interpol issued a “blue notice” against him, formally asking for his arrest and expatriation. Investigations revealed that Father Kennedy used a British passport to travel from London to Brazil, settling in Osasco, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, where he earned a living teaching English.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.