IRELAND/UNITED STATES
Irish Central
By
KERRY O’SHEA,
IrishCentral Staff Writer
Published Friday, June 8, 2012
Helen McGonigle, who was sexually abused by Irish priest Brendan Smyth when she was six years old, believes the priest also murdered a child during his time in Rhode Island. McGonigle says that Smyth warned her by saying she would “end up like the body in the woods” if she told anyone about the abuse.
The Anglo-Celt reports on the connection McGonigle made between Smyth’s chilling comments and the finding of a child’s remains in the woods near her school in the 1960s. The discovery of the body, however, came about after Smyth laid down his threat on young McGonigle.
McGonigle notified police of the connection she made in 2007. Police, however, confirmed to the Anglo-Celt that they were not able to launch an investigation in regards to McGonigle’s theory because of the amount of time that had since passed, the death of Smyth, the time-frame quoted in her statement and that their older records were not digitally stored.
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.