Dublin Archdiocese: Murphy Report finds a serial abuser known from 1978 was transferred, not removed

Proceedings

1. 2009-11-26 · statutory commission finding; subsequent criminal convictions under the priest's real name

   Commission of Investigation into the Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin (Murphy Commission), Ireland. The Murphy Report's chapter on the priest it names 'Fr Jovito' found that a complaint of sexually abusing an eight-year-old boy reached Archbishop's House within two days of his 1978 appointment to Ballyfermot; that 'by 1985, the Archdiocese knew he was a serial abuser and his transfer to Westland Row was clearly an attempt to avoid further scandal'; that 'the welfare of children did not arise as a consideration for the Archdiocese, despite an established clear danger to children'; and that action 'should have been taken by the Archdiocese in 1979 at the latest.' The priest, publicly identified through later criminal proceedings as Tony Walsh, was subsequently convicted in the Irish criminal courts.

Documented coercion mechanisms

• unsupervised clerical access to parish children
• transfer between parishes to avoid scandal