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Periscope by Niall O'Dowd

Notorious Irish pedophile priest discovered working with kids in Holland

Posted on Sunday, April 25, 2010 at 02:42 PM

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A notorious Irish pedophile priest who abused children for many years in America has been discovered helping out as a church deacon in Rotterdam under an assumed name and working a shelter for abused women and their children.

Father Oliver O'Grady served as a priest at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Lodi, California from 1971 to 1978. He later served at Church of the Presentation in Stockton, California, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Turlock, California, St. Andrew's Parish in San Andreas, California, and St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Hughson, California.

In 1993 he was convicted on four counts of "lewd and lascivious acts" on two minors, the brothers John and James Howard, and was sentenced to 14 years in prison. Attorney Jeff Anderson said the Howards were repeatedly molested between 1978 and 1991, from age three to 13. Anderson claimed church officials knew that O'Grady had abused children as early as 1976 and 1984 but had done nothing. Police had been informed of earlier charges and had declined to prosecute.

In 1998 a civil jury ordered the Catholic Diocese of Stockton to pay US$30 million in damages to the brothers. A judge later reduced the amount to $7 million.

O'Grady was paroled from prison in 2000 after serving only seven years, and went to Ireland after being deported from the United States.

He claimed to have been himself molested by a priest at the age of 10, and that he was involved in sexual abuse in his own family, both as perpetrator and victim. One of his victims was just nine months old.

The defrocked priest referred to himself as 'Brother Francis' in Rotterdam. He was thought to be living in Ireland but had recently disappeared. He was found by the Sunday Tribune newspaper.

The parishioners attending the Church of the Holy Heart, Christ Our Redeemer, had no knowledge about the man once described as one of the most dangerous pedophiles ever. The newspaper reported he was also working at a fast food restaurant where he helped organize children's parties.

He gained notoriety when the film "Deliver Us From Evil' was released about his case. It was when the documentary was released in Holland two weeks ago that he was recognized.

Parishioners told the Sunday Tribune he was "acting as a church deacon, helping the priest with the sacraments and organising the choir singing. On one occasion, when the priest was late, the defrocked cleric celebrated the mass until he arrived."

Fr Avin Kunnekkadan, on said he was unaware of O'Grady's criminal past.

"I did not know about his background. I did not know about his past at all," he said this weekend. An announcement was made at the church last week informing the congregation about O'Grady's criminal past.

Last week, O'Grady was also served with a civil action at his Dublin hostel by Californian attorneys Manly, McGuire & Stewart.

The firm specialises in clerical sex abuse cases and represents several of O'Grady's victims who are taking civil actions against him.

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29 comments

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JeffreyKelly | May 05, 2010, 07:51 AM EDT

I was accused of a 'lack of objectivity' in exposing a previous 'covert residence' of Oliver O'Grady in my community of Dundalk Co Louth Ireland by the Broadcasting Authority in Ireland 2007 and banned from broadcasting in Ireland altogether? What do I think about all this...Google, me, mo cháirde :-)

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alioops | Apr 30, 2010, 03:59 PM EDT

Lower than pond scum!

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jacersisityourself | Apr 27, 2010, 05:15 PM EDT

Why would I bother to post on this as below? Well, it’s because a life sentence for a crime should be just that. I think Fr. O’Grady should be locked up in a monastery for life, even after serving civil penal time for his crime “with good behaviour”, after the life-long harm he did to children.

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jacersisityourself | Apr 27, 2010, 05:14 PM EDT

Unfortunately, his Dublin past caught up with him in later life. You can read more of that story >> http://www.herald.ie/opinion/prison-wont-change-a-man-filled-with-rage-against-women-1712581.html << and more interesting comments here, complete with old newspaper photos, here >> http://www.dublin.ie/forums/showthread.php?6402-Irish-murders/page4 << (More...)

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jacersisityourself | Apr 27, 2010, 05:13 PM EDT

The extraordinary aspect of this case was that the murdered girl’s family, members of the Catholic Church, forgave him and regularly visited him in prison until his release. I can’t remember fully but I think they tried to convert him to Catholicism and maybe they did. Mohangi left Ireland, returned to Sth Africa where he became a politician. (More...)

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jacersisityourself | Apr 27, 2010, 05:13 PM EDT

There were all sorts of ideas as to what to do with him – hang him or keep him in prison for life? Some Dublin wit said the solution was easy – just take the letter M from the start of his name and put it at the end of his name. So Mohangi becomes ... (ah, you’ll get it). Ultimately, his hanging by death was commuted to life Imprisonment, which he never served out. He was released after a number of years. (More...)

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jacersisityourself | Apr 27, 2010, 05:11 PM EDT

Imprisonment for Life should mean that, I believe, for heinous crimes. When I was a young fellow, death by hanging was still the sentence for murder. An Indian man of Sth African heritage, Shan Mohangi, a medical student who worked part-time in a restaurant’s kitchen, murdered his Irish girlfriend. Death by hanging was the mandatory sentence back then. The country was enthralled with the case as I remember, but there was certain recognition that it was a crime of passion. (More...)

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jacersisityourself | Apr 27, 2010, 05:05 PM EDT

TrooprThrn (Apr 25) asks how this man got out of prison after 7 yrs when under sentence of 14 yrs. I agree with him – 14 yrs should be served in full. In Ireland, murdering someone carries a mandatory ‘Life Sentence’ which usually means 14 yrs but, with “good behaviour” in prison, a murderer can be paroled after 7 yrs or so. ‘Life’ sentences are rarely adhered to in Ireland or in the UK; most murderers are released after serving a few years in prison. Why that happens, I’d love to know.

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McNamara31 | Apr 26, 2010, 07:33 PM EDT

glorybe1929 Any relatives Kilbane Co. Clare?

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murphy66 | Apr 26, 2010, 04:33 PM EDT

Hey, McNamara, have you turned your back on the Blessed Mother also. I'll bet not.

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glorybe1929 | Apr 26, 2010, 01:54 PM EDT

My name was McNamara before I was married 59 yrs. ago.

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glorybe1929 | Apr 26, 2010, 01:50 PM EDT

WHY ARE YOU AFRAID TO PUBLISH THE OPINION I JUST WROTE ? I AM AN 80 YR. OLD MARRIED EX ROMAN CATHOLIC, THAT LEFT THIS CHURCH IN 2001 ON OUR 50TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY. IT IS A VALID OPINION AND I WAS THE BEST RC YOU COULD EVER FIND. WE FOUND THE LIGHT AND WE'RE HOPING A FEW OTHERS WILL TOO.

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missspook1994 | Apr 26, 2010, 01:33 PM EDT

When is this outrageous behavior going to stop in the Catholic Church? When they don't even check into a persons background and allow them to be in contact with children and then it is swept under the rug as if it was unimportant because the universal church and its male hierarchy must be protected from scandal at all cost.

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Doctorgeri | Apr 26, 2010, 12:23 PM EDT

Thank God he was discovered. What will the follow-up be? Why was he released from prison?

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deuslovolt | Apr 26, 2010, 12:14 PM EDT

I suggest readers view "DELIVER US FROM EVIL" if they haven't already gotten the background story on the case and the involvement of Cardinal Roger Mahony. Mahoney is currently under another investigation for stonewalling and obstructing justice. I was in the parish from 82 on and am still disgusted with the way the case was handled and he was pensioned off to Ireland by the church after his brief sentence reportedly as a reward for keeping his mouth shut.

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