Our reporter on how paedo priest gained her family’s trust

IRELAND
Sunday World

By Niamh O’ Connor

I went to court this week to tell a priest I had known and trusted that he was the last person I expected to see there on paedophile charges.

I just wanted to look Fr Denis Nolan in the eye. I also asked him if it was true, though he had already pleaded guilty to all charges.

“I’ll tell you sometime over a cup of tea,” he said, lying through his teeth. Again.

Brave teenager John Paul Hunter was the sex victim of predator Nolan from the ago of 12.

Now 19, John Paul waived his right to anonymity to name and shame the parish priest, from the small town of Rathnew in Co. Wicklow, who was jailed for seven years for repeatedly sexually abusing him.

Wiping away tears, John Paul told me after the hearing: “I’m just so happy it’s over. He ruined my life.

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