NEW ZEALAND
Stuff
ANNA WILLIAMS
A former Blenheim priest who fondled a young man’s buttocks committed a serious offence and will never be a parish priest again, says the acting leader of his Catholic order.
Passionist order acting leader Kevin Hennessy said there was no way Alastair Aidan Kay would escape the consequences of his actions. The order saw the offending as serious despite Judge Bruce Davidson saying it was a low level indecent assault, made worse by a substantial breach of trust.
“It’s not at the lower end of the scale. For us, it’s a serious matter,” he said.
Hennessy talked to Kay after he was sentenced, and said the former St Mary’s parish priest understood he would have to face up to what he did. “It’s a breach of trust. Father Aidan realises that and he realises that there are consequences to his actions,” he said.
“Even though he had become very popular in that part of New Zealand, he has broken the trust and he has to face up to that.”
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