Lessons persisted in priest’s house

A PRIEST was allowed have music lessons taught at his house more than seven years after he was removed from his ministry due to an allegation of child sex abuse.

Fr Drust, who died in 2010, was alleged to have abused a girl between 1967 and 1971, when she was between the ages of 7 and 11.

The victim, “Ula” first reported the abuse in 1990 to a priest but not to the diocesan authorities. This priest did not view the complaint as a ‘report’ but felt “it was under the seal of confession”.

The complaint was formally made to the diocese in 2002. In a later statement to gardaí, Ula said she would visit Fr Drust in his home at the weekends. The priest would give her “three or four glasses of sherry and she would wake up in bed the following morning”. He would then abuse her. She said the priest referred to her as his “Lolita”.

Ula’s elder sister also told gardaí in 2003 that when she was 13, Fr Drust came into her bedroom, ran his tongue down the side of her face and attempted to kiss her. When confronted by the girls’ mother, Fr Drust said he was preparing her for what boys would do in the future.

In her evidence, Ula said that, one day, at the age of 11, she reached out to remove some grey hairs from the collar of Fr Drust’s coat. He said to her “you are turning into a woman”. From that day on, the abuse stopped.

On receiving the complaint, the diocese removed Fr Drust from his ministry. He was also told no minors could visit his house, in particular those who might come for music lessons.

Msgr Denis O’Callaghan was appointed by Bishop John Magee as delegate to conduct an investigation.

The commission is scathing in its criticism of Msgr O’Callaghan’s handling of the case. It found that he allowed music lessons to be taught at the house as long as Fr Drust’s housekeeper was in charge, contrary to instructions issued by a letter from the bishop.

Msgr O’Callaghan told the commission he did not have possession of the letter when he met Fr Drust in relation to the complaint. However, his note of the meeting recorded that he was clearly aware of its contents, an explanation the commission recorded as “disingenuous”.

The commission also found that while the incident was reported immediately to gardaí, Msgr O’Callaghan made it clear he did not think this was appropriate. It also agreed with the view of the Garda, that Bishop Magee did not fully co-operate with its investigation by refusing to make a statement to gardaí and to supply Ula’s hand-written account of the abuse.

The commission was also scathing of the fact that although Fr Drust was removed from his ministry, the public perception was that he was simply a retired priest.