IRELAND
Irish Times
Patsy McGarry
A parish priest falsely accused of child abuse has asked why Catholic Church authorities give any credence to anonymous allegations such as were presented against him.
Fr Tim Hazelwood, parish priest at Killeagh in east Cork, explained how “in May of this year I was successful in securing an apology and an admission that what was claimed about me was false, ie – that I was an abuser.
“This followed a High Court action taken on my behalf against my accuser. The action was settled before it went to trial. My accuser never came forward but remained anonymous.” It left Fr Hazelwood “with many questions and very few answers”.
He asked: “Why was my name passed on to the gardaí and the HSE when it was an anonymous allegation?” And “what is the official church policy concerning anonymous allegations?”
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