Ireland: priest jailed 3 years for sexually abusing a boy across several parishes in the Diocese of Limerick
Request a correction or replyRecord class
Core record
Evidence status
Convicted
Authority role
priest, several parishes, Diocese of Limerick
Organization
Diocese of Limerick
Archive classification
This is the archive's application of its published inclusion test. The cited record appears below.
The priest worked across several parishes within the Diocese of Limerick and developed sustained, unsupervised access to the child victim over three years, which the court characterised as a 'most inappropriate and unhealthy' relationship rooted in his pastoral role.
- Pastoral or clerical authority
Evidence structure
Proceedings
2020-10-12 · conviction and sentence
Limerick Circuit Court, Ireland. Convicted by jury on nine charges of sexual abuse of a minor (touching and masturbating in the victim's presence on numerous occasions) committed September 1999-December 2002, victim aged 12-13 at onset; sentenced by Judge Sean O Donnabhain to 3 years' imprisonment.
Documented coercion mechanisms
- priestly role across multiple parishes gave sustained access to the victim over several years
- developed what the court called a 'most inappropriate and unhealthy' relationship with the child under cover of pastoral involvement
Cited record
Sources
- aggregated court reporting criminal disposition and nexus BishopAccountability.org (reprint of Irish court press coverage), 'Limerick priest jailed for sexually abusing young boy' (Oct. 2020).
Court report confirming the Limerick Circuit Court conviction on nine counts, the 3-year sentence, and the diocesan multi-parish context.
Source provenance
Source access and integrity log
This log records source retrieval and file integrity. It does not mean that an automated process independently confirmed every statement in the source.
- Source and tier basis
- https://www.bishop-accountability.org/2020/10/limerick-priest-jailed-for-sexually-abusing-young-boy/ Corpus classification: aggregated-court-reporting; evidentiary role: criminal-disposition-and-nexus. SHA-256 cda520f1ca1a9a017333ea4b27c2bf4833317134cb91e9a565907b6bc49c9d92
- Retrieval
- 2026-07-20 · Preserved
- Bound by Fear automated source-preservation ledger
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Related record
Related cases · Christian institutions & contexts
- 2018 · Harrisburg, PA, USA PA grand jury: 301 priests, 1,000+ child victims documented ('weaponized' faith)
- 2009 · Dublin, Ireland Ryan Commission: abuse 'endemic' in Catholic-run institutions (state inquiry)
- 2021 · Paris, France CIASE/Sauvé Report: est. 216,000 abused by French clergy since 1950
- 2019 · Vatican City McCarrick: ex-cardinal found guilty by Vatican canonical process, laicized
- 2010 · Oregon City, OR, USA Beagley faith-healing death: parents convicted (criminally negligent homicide)
- 2014 · Philadelphia, PA, USA Schaible: 3rd-degree murder, second child dead of untreated pneumonia
- 2001 · London, UK Victoria Climbié: murder convictions; possession belief; Laming Inquiry followed
- 2012 · London, UK Kristy Bamu: kindoki 'deliverance' murder convictions (30/25-yr minimums)