CHILD abuse by a perverted
priest was ignored by church
authorities for decades, even
though several of his victims
spoke out.
Retired priest Father John
Corrigan was jailed for four
years yesterday for the abuse
of three altar boys and a girl
in the sacristy and vestry of
his Gateshead church dating
back 40 years.
The 72-year-old, who also
worked in parishes in Seaham
and Newcastle, admitted nine
charges of indecent assault
between 1967 and 1972 and
must register as a sex offender
for life.
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Judge David Hodson told
Corrigan: "By virtue of your
priesthood, you were in an especially
privileged position.
"You were regarded by your
parishioners as a person with
whom the safety and innocence
of the children in your
charge would be safe.
"Over a period of about five
years, you breached that trust
in the grossest way."
Newcastle Crown Court
was told how his teenage female
victim reported the
abuse at the time, but the authorities
refused to listen.
Penny Moreland, prosecuting,
told the court: "It was she
who got the dressing down
from the parish priestand it
was she who was told she was
a bad girl who had shamed her
family by saying wicked
things about the defendant."
The woman, now in her 50s,
was in court yesterday to see
Corrigan, who sat with his
head in his hand throughout
the hearing, brought to justice.
The court was told that one
of the male victims, who was
abused when he was about
eight years old, went to the authorities
in the Eighties, but
he was also ignored.
An investigation was
launched in 2002 after the
third victim finally reported
Corrigan's crimes and he was
extradited from his native Ireland,
where he had retired.
Tony Hawks, mitigating,
said it took "moral courage"
for Corrigan to admit his
guilt.
Judge Hodson told Corrigan:
"You believed your position
was unassailable. You
thought no one would complain
and their word would
not be believed."
Speaking after the hearing
Father Dennis Tindall, from
the Diocese of Hexham and
Newcastle, said: "We do not
have a good history on this
subject. We need to acknowledge
things weren't always
done correctly in the past."
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