UNITED KINGDOM
Liverpool Echo
Dec 27, 2014 By Helen Davies
A former Catholic school pupil who says he was sexually abused by a priest from Merseyside has fresh hope the truth will finally be exposed.
Home Secretary Theresa May revealed a troubled inquiry into child sexual abuse across the UK could be given extra powers, including the ability to force witnesses to give evidence.
The Sunday ECHO told earlier this year of how both a priest at the centre of a scandal at Mirfield junior seminary in Yorkshire and a former student there – one of those who made the allegations – came from Merseyside.
A group of 11 men settled out of court with the Verona Fathers, the Catholic order which ran the college, for payments totalling £120,000.
The order said the payouts are not an admission of liability but were made on a commercial basis following legal advice.
Gerry McLaughlin, who says he was abused by the late Father John Pinkman from Maghull, and a man from Liverpool who claims he was abused by another priest, have this week spoken of their optimism that tougher inquiry powers backed by Theresa May will mean former priests from the college could be made to appear before the Home Affairs Select Committee.
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