'Deliver Us from Evil' priest arrested in Ireland

[Wasp]

'Deliver Us from Evil' priest arrested in Ireland

The Associated Press

Monday, December 13, 2010; 2:57 PM

LONDON -- A defrocked California priest made notorious by an award-winning documentary on sex abuse in the Catholic church has been detained by Irish authorities on child pornography charges, police said Monday.

Irish police said in a statement that Oliver O'Grady had been arrested in the Dublin area Friday morning but gave few details about the exact nature of his alleged crime. The 65-year-old was made the subject of an award-winning 2006 documentary, "Deliver Us from Evil," in which he spoke openly of abusing more than 20 children as he was shuffled from one parish to another in California through the 1970s and 80s.

Convicted in 1994 of molesting two brothers, he served almost seven years in a U.S. prison before being deported to his native Ireland.

Earlier this year the Dutch Catholic Church came under fire after it emerged that O'Grady had been working as church volunteer in the city of Rotterdam. O'Grady had been living in the country under another name, but parishioners recognized him when "Deliver Us from Evil" was aired on Dutch television in April. By that time, the disgraced cleric had already left the country.


In June survivors of O'Grady's abuse expressed outrage when the northern California's Stockton Diocese announced that he would receive monthly payments totaling nearly $100,000 over 10 years as part of a deal to get him to leave the priesthood.

The Stockton Diocese, about 60 miles east of San Francisco, has been hit with a slew of lawsuits over O'Grady's actions.

[Wasp]

Oliver O'Grady arriving at court yesterday evening Defrocked Irish cleric Oliver O'Grady was yesterday charged with possession of thousands of pornographic images of children, some as young as two.

He was granted bail at Dublin District Court despite garda objections. Judge James McDonnell heard that 65-year-old O'Grady was arrested at his Dublin hostel on Friday morning just after 7am. The material confiscated included images and videos on a USB key, an external hard drive and a laptop. Det garda Johanna Doyle told the court: "We are talking about thousands upon thousands of images of child pornography. Children from the age of two and three up to teenage boys and girls."

Defending solicitor Dara Robinson told the court that his client had difficult personal circumstances and did not have financial means. "His personal circumstances are very unfortunate; he is a highly educated man who has had a very serious fall from grace. He has significant estrangement from his family and his social circumstances have changed."

The court heard the defendant rents a lock-up facility and a postbox in which to store his personal belongings.

O'Grady, with an address at Citi Hostel, 6 Charlemont Street Dublin 2, was formally charged at Pearse Street garda station at 3.13pm yesterday with possession of child pornography. Gardaí told the court that further charges are likely to follow.

The former priest, wearing a black jacket, black trousers and a blue sweater, remained silent throughout except when asked to clarify his name and address. Det garda Doyle told the judge that O'Grady has lived at various addresses in Ireland since his deportation from the US in 2001.

Gardaí strenuously objected to bail on the basis of how serious the charges were and that there were more to follow. However, Robinson argued that the court could only deal with the issue of bail on the basis of the charge before the court. Judge McDonnell consented to bail of €500 and told O'Grady that he must sign on twice daily at Harcourt Terrace garda station before his next court appearance next Friday.

Det garda Doyle asked that a condition of bail be that O'Grady have no contact with children. Judge McDonnell said this could not be implemented as O'Grady lives in a hostel. O'Grady gave an undertaking not to seek travel documentation as the gardaí have confiscated his passport.


December 12, 2010

Comments

#1 knowtoomuch commented, on December 12, 2010 at 8:01 p.m.:

When we remember that Fianna Fail gave one billion euro to religious child rapists to ensure that they could keep their department of education pensions and so forth.....I have no real interest in the activities of any individual....there is no mandatory reporting of child rape in the Republic and today we are told by theirishobserver.blogspot.com that a group of convicted sex offenders have pledged their support to Fianna Fail in the forth coming general election.....this country is rotten from the top down....Time for Change

[Wasp]

Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010

Police: Defrocked priest has thousands of child porn images

O'Grady arrested in Ireland; separate civil case in Modesto today

By Sue Nowicki

Notorious defrocked pedophile priest Oliver O’Grady was arrested at his hostel in Dublin, Ireland, on Friday and charged with possession of thousands of images of child pornography.

According to published reports, O’Grady posted bail of about $750 — about the amount of his monthly annuity provided by the Stockton Diocese — and will return to court on Friday.

Meanwhile, a hearing in a civil lawsuit filed in 2008 will be held in Modesto on Tuesday to determine whether the action can proceed even though the statute of limitations for filing such claims has ended.