Abuse charges brought against Chilean priest

CHILE
Santiago Times

John O’Reilly is accused of sexually abusing two young girls while he served as the chaplain and spiritual advisor at their school.

A Santiago court formalized Tuesday the charges against an Irish-born Catholic priest accused of molesting two young girls.

John O’Reilly now faces two charges of sexual assault for his alleged abuse of two girls who at the time were 6 and 10 years old, respectively. O’Reilly’s accusers say the abuse took place in 2007, while the priest was still serving as the chaplain and spiritual director of Colegio Cumbres — a private school in the affluent Santiago borough of Las Condes.

During the hearing, prosecutors presented a psychiatric evaluation performed on O’Reilly that said he suffered from a “social adaptation deficit” and recommended that, regardless of the case’s outcome, he not be allowed to continue to work with children.

Though prosecutors managed to formalize charges against O’Reilly, they failed in their bid to have him taken into custody leading up to the trial.

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