Connell has no jurisdiction over fugitive priest

THE Archdiocese of Dublin claims it has no jurisdiction over an Irish priest who fled the US last July just days before a warrant was issued for his arrest on child sexual abuse charges.

Monsignor Patrick O’Keeffe, who returned to Ireland during the summer, is facing 15 felony charges related to alleged oral sex with a minor in California more than 30 years ago. The offences are claimed to have taken place in early 1972 with a 17-year-old girl who was a parishioner of Mons O’Keeffe when he was serving as a priest in Highland, a town 70 miles east of Los Angeles.

The 68-year-old cleric, who is originally from Kilkenny, returned to live in Dublin shortly after leaving his home in California last July. He had previously served in the Diocese of San Bernardino in California until his dismissal from the priesthood in 1994. Last night, a spokesperson for the Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, said he had no authority over Mons O’Keeffe as he was never a priest of the diocese.