Paedophile to live near girls’ school

PARENTS expressed concern yesterday at claims that a convicted paedophile is going to live near a school after he is released from jail.

Fr Ivan Payne, 58, is due to be released on October 26 after serving four-and-a-half years of a six-year sentence. Victims of Fr Payne expressed outrage at the news and said the priest was not supposed to be released early.

The Prison Service said Fr Payne was not being released early, but that he was being given standard remission of 25% off his sentence for good behaviour. It has been claimed that Fr Payne will live with a relative near St Wolstan's Community School in Celbridge, Co Kildare, for girls aged between 12 and 17, when he is released from the Curragh Prison.

Parents' representatives expressed shock and concern at the news.

"From a parents' body point of view, it is not appropriate for any paedophile to live in the vicinity of a school," said Gerard Horgan, president of the Parents Associations of Community and Comprehensive Schools (PACS).

He said the issue had not arisen before and the national executive of the association will be looking at the matter. Mr Horgan said that while it was not for them to say where a released paedophile should live, they should not be placed near schools.

He said the authorities should consider "as a matter of urgency" where they were going to place paedophiles when they put them back into society.

Fr Payne was initially sentenced to two years with four years suspended in 1998 for sexually assaulting young boys. After an appeal by the Director of Public Prosecutions, this was increased to a six-year jail term. He has been in custody since April 27, 1998.

Fr Payne abused altar boys and sick children in hospital who he called his "little angels" for 18 years.

The Prison Service said they could not comment on whether Fr Payne had undergone the group treatment programme for sex offenders in the Curragh Fr Payne will be obliged when he is released to notify gardaí of his address and any subsequent change of address. If he does so he will be placed on the Sex Offenders' Register.

However, there have been criticisms of the register because the offender does not have to notify his nearest

Garda station, but any Garda station. There isn't active monitoring of

people on the register either.