IRELAND
Irish Times
An alleged victim of clerical sexual abuse has told a trial of a detective charged with forgery of her anger when she found out a file on her case had never been sent to the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Wicklow Det Garda Catherine McGowan (48), based at Bray Garda station, has pleaded not guilty to one count of forgery on January 15th, 2009 at the station and two counts of using a false instrument at the station and at Harcourt Street Garda station between June 21st and 22nd, 2011.
The instrument is alleged to have been a letter from the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), dated January 14th, 2009.
The woman testified that the accused had previously informed her that the DPP had received the file and was not going to prosecute the case.
The investigation of Garda McGowan’s handling of the case was prompted by publication of the Murphy report, which investigated clerical sexual abuse in the Dublin area. The priest in Garda McGowan’s case was one of the clerics mentioned in the report.
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