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Azra Naseem - Irish Independent
A MISSIONARY brother who indecently assaulted his teenage nephew has been remanded in custody for sentence by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The Capuchin Order brother pleaded guilty to two counts of indecently assaulting his nephew between February 27, 1978, and February 27, 1982, at two locations in Ireland.
Patrick MacEntee SC, for the 51-year-old brother, told Judge Frank O'Donnell his client had committed the offences at a time when he was coming to terms with the realisation that he was of homosexual orientation.
Detective Garda Michael Lally told the court that the brother had spent most of his working life as a missionary in South Africa. He was on holiday in Dublin when he invited his nephew to the Capuchin Priory in Raheny.
He arranged for the boy to meet with members of the clergy after which he started drinking with a friend He then offered the boy a beer, which led to him being highly intoxicated.
While the boy was intoxicated, the brother proceeded to kiss him intimately on the mouth and fondled his genitals. He also gave permission to his friend to treat the boy in a similar manner. When the boy went to bed, the brother followed him up and was sexually intimate with him before going to sleep beside him.
Less than a week later he visited the boy at his home and took him out for a drive. He parked the car in an isolated area and again indecently assaulted him. The offences were reported to gardai in January 2004 after the victim confronted the brother, who expressed deep remorse.
A clinical psychologist told the court the brother had found it extremely difficult to come to terms with his homosexuality but had now done so.
He said that the brother now posed very little risk to society and had never been a threat to the public at large.
Mr MacEntee asked the judge to consider strict conditions the Capuchin Order had imposed on the brother under which he is to reside at a certain address and is banned from unsupervised contact with young people.
The judge adjourned sentencing to March 9.
