No new claims of sex abuse found

AN investigation of the final ministry of deceased paedophile priest Fr Noel Reynolds has found no new allegations of child sex abuse.

The National Rehabilitation Hospital recently completed a review of all patients who came in contact with Fr Reynolds when he served as a chaplain at the Dun Laoghaire-based facility.

Fr Reynolds was assigned as chaplain to the NRH in 1997 because of concern voiced by parents in the priest’s previous parish in Glendalough, Co Wicklow.

A major controversy was sparked by the revelation last October that the Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, had failed to notify the NRH about what he termed the priest’s “inappropriate behaviour”.

A Prime Time special on RTÉ highlighted reports that Fr Reynolds had admitted interfering with more than 100 children in eight different parishes.

Fr Reynolds served as chaplain at the NRH for almost a year until he was removed following the filing of a formal allegation of child sex abuse in 1998. He died in April 2002.

A total of 94 children who were under the age of 16 when they attended the hospital during Fr Reynolds’ ministry were contacted by the hospital.

The NRH authorities also decided to extend the look-back programme to 550 adult patients who were treated at the centre over the same period as a precautionary measure.

“We’re happy to confirm there was no allegation of any sex abuse against Fr Reynolds by anyone who was a patient of the hospital,” said an NRH spokesperson.

“It is clear Fr Reynolds was a very sick man when he arrived here and in truth he was probably dying.”

The findings of the review will comes as a major relief to church authorities who are already facing a number of legal actions over Fr Reynolds’ abuse of children.

The Archdiocese of Dublin infuriated victims earlier this month when it argued no claims could be made against it in relation to allegations of child sex abuse by priests because it is not a legal entity.