Order of Malta board disbanded as fallout over child sex abuse controversy deepens

The entire board of the Order of Malta Ireland has been disbanded by a senior figure appointed by the headquarters of the religious order in Rome, deepening the fallout over a recent child sex abuse controversy facing the first-aid organisation.

The organisation has been under increasing scrutiny over its handling of sexual assault allegations made against a volunteer, who later went on to molest two 15-year-old boys.

A senior figure in the international order, FJ McCarthy, appointed in recent months to oversee the running of the Irish organisation amid the turmoil, has moved to stand down its current board.

The board, known as the presidential council, was disbanded as of midnight on Wednesday.

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In a November 2nd letter, seen by The Irish Times, Mr McCarthy told members of the Irish association he had “no choice but to disband the presidential council”.

[ Semi-State body to raise abuse controversy with Order of Malta ]

[ Revelations from sexual assault inquiries cause increasing concern within Order of Malta ]

The Rome-appointee said he was “disappointed and saddened” to take the decision, which is expected to cause significant disquiet among senior ranks of the organisation.

In place of the council, Mr McCarthy said he had set up an “executive steering group”, which would “assure continuity in governance” and “efficiency of purpose”.

The decision follows a growing controversy facing the organisation over a former volunteer, who sexually abused two teenage boys.

Scott Browne (32), from Co Kildare, was jailed for 9½ years after he pleaded guilty in 2020 to sexually abusing two 15-year-old boys in separate incidents in 2018. Another Kildare volunteer, Jordan Murphy (22), was jailed for 5½ years this May for aiding and abetting Browne.

At the end of the court proceedings, the Order of Malta commissioned a full investigation into the case and wider child protection standards.

It has since emerged that the organisation had been aware of allegations that Browne sexually assaulted one young man in 2015 and another in 2017, prior to the volunteer molesting the two underage boys.

Two previous preliminary inquiries, completed last year, heavily criticised the organisation’s handling of the prior allegations. Browne had only been removed as a volunteer in May 2018, when gardaí began investigating the abuse of the two 15-year-old boys.

The earlier inquiries, the findings of which were reported by The Irish Times last week, found serious shortcomings in the response to the prior sexual assault allegations, which they said could have placed others in potential danger.

The reports criticised the fact that now-senior ambulance corps officers dealing with the allegations had not informed the council at the time.

Mr McCarthy, a New York-based businessman involved in the real estate industry and senior figure in the international order, had been appointed by the order’s headquarters in Rome to oversee the running of the Irish arm of the Order of Malta in July.

In his letter announcing the council was being stood down, he said he had hoped issues facing the Irish organisation could have been resolved “by working together and by building consensus and trust”.

He continued: “The protection and safeguarding of the public and our members is the primary objective of the Order of Malta Ireland, and I will take all steps necessary in this regard.”

Mr McCarthy said he was also “implementing a zero-tolerance policy immediately that will relate to any type of abuse, either physical or psychological”. A spokeswoman for the Order of Malta said the organisation had no comment.