The Archbishop of Dublin has said he will meet victims of Thomas Naughton, if they so wish. Naughton was jailed for three years yesterday for indecently assaulting four altar boys, one as young as nine.
In a statement last night, Dr Desmond Connell said: "I want to extend my sorrow and deep sympathy to those who have suffered abuse and to their families and loved ones.
"I also want to offer the pastoral support of the diocese to those who have suffered. It is a profound part of the mission of the church to try and bring healing and consolation to anyone who is vulnerable and who has been injured.
"I am personally available to meet anyone who has been abused by Father Naughton who wished to meet with me." The archbishop advised victims either to contact a local priest or to telephone the diocese directly on 01-8373732.
Naughton's abuse of altar boys was first brought to the attention of the church authorities when he abused two boys in a north Dublin church in 1985. Yet he was still working in a Dublin parish and abusing altar boys in 1988.
When the first incidents were brought to the attention of the church he was sent to a programme for sex abusers in Stroud, England, which he completed. On his return he was sent to another Dublin parish, where he abused two more boys.
In 1988 he undertook another course of treatment and went to live with the Kiltegan Fathers in Co Wicklow, where he has worked since with old and infirm members of the order. Gardai first questioned him in 1995.
According to Dr Philip Moore, a psychologist specialising in child sex abuse who is now treating Naughton, the priest showed "no real insight into his problems" during the first programme he undertook in Stroud in 1986. Naughton's counsel, Mr George Birmingham, described this programme as "not particularly successful." Yet on his return to was sent back to parish work on the other side of Dublin.
Asked how this happened, a spokesman for the diocese said the report from Stroud recommended that he receive continuing counselling and that the parish priest should be informed, and as far as the records showed that was complied with. He did not know what the ongoing counselling consisted of.
He pointed out that as soon as the complaints were made in 1987 the parish priest informed the Eastern Health Board and the Garda.