UNITED KINGDOM
Daily Mail
Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting teenage girl has a secret wife after marrying abroad
By Richard Hartley-parkinson
A Roman Catholic priest has revealed that he is actually married at a trial in which he is accused of sexually abusing a teenager.
Bradford Crown Court heard from lawyers acting for Father William Finnegan, 59, that he had confessed that he is married to a woman called Beverley Dawson.
His lawyer said that he fled to Cyprus in 1999 and married Miss Dawson, keeping the marriage secret from all but their closest friends and family.
He is currently facing charges that he assaulted a 17-year-old girl at St Clare’s RC Church in Fagley, Bradford, where he was parish priest, last Easter.
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