Demonstrating moral authority

by Feòrag

England: The Leeds diocese of the Roman Catholic Church has been accused of covering up child sex abuse by a priest.

In 1987, Father David Crowley was permanently banned from working as a priest in the diocese and sent for counselling after he encouraged sexual activity among boys and gave them alcohol. The then Bishop of Leeds, Rt Rev David Konstant, did not report the incident to the police, and the story proceeded in the traditional manner:

Within a few months Konstant helped Crowley to find a new post in Devon. He was made to sign a contract to restrict his contact with young people, but went on to abuse in Torquay and Barnstaple. Even though concerns were raised about his continued contact with young boys in the south of England, he was allowed to return to Yorkshire - despite Konstant's earlier pledge that he would never again work as a priest in the diocese of Leeds - and entered into another period of sexual abuse.

Paul (not his real name) was among Crowley's victims when the priest returned to Yorkshire. He was raped by Crowley as a 10-year-old altar boy. Over four years from 1991, Paul was subject to frequent sexual abuse by the priest who got other boys to perform sex acts on him. 'He wouldn't care what was happening,' Paul said. 'Even if there was a funeral taking place or a wedding, he would wait for his opportunity. Sometimes he would be very aggressive, pushing me down on the floor and assaulting me.'

Paul says he was traumatised at the time and it took him till 2004 to report the abuse. By this time, Crowley was in prison, serving an nine-year sentence for a string of sexual assaults on boys, and he admitted raping Paul. This time, the police decided another trial would not be in the public interest, so Paul decided to sue the diocese. Despite the circumstances of Crowley's move from Devon back to Yorkshire, the church is claiming that they knew nothing at the time and that their actions were appropriate.

And it seems that this is not the first time the diocese has been involved in covering up sexual abuse:

This is not the first time the diocese has been involved in a sex abuse scandal. Earlier this year, The Observer reported how it had covered up the criminal past of paedophile priest, Neil Gallanagh, and gave him a job in a school for deaf children, where he went on to sexually assault vulnerable young boys.

As Crowley was sentenced to nine years imprisonment in 1997, he will be free by now, even if he served the full sentence. I wonder in which diocese he's working.

Catholic church in new sex abuse row—The Observer, 17th December 2006.

Tags: child sex abuse, Leeds, religion, Roman Catholic Church, United Kingdom, Yorkshire