Man who raised flag on priest was ostracised

A QUARTER of a century after he first warned the Catholic Church authorities that Fr Thomas Naughton was sexually abusing local children, former garda John Brennan could allow himself a sense of vindication as the paedophile priest was sent to prison for a second time yesterday.

“Justice was done today after a gap of 25 years,” he smiled.

Mr Brennan, a parishioner in Valleymount, Co Wicklow, where Naughton served as a curate in the early 1980s, was one of the first people to alert parish priest Fr Maurice Dufficy about his colleague’s conduct, after he had been approached by two women from the local area.