Former priest jailed for abuse of boy

A former priest who sexually abused a young boy over 30 years ago and fled the country because of “adverse publicity” before gardaí could interview him has been jailed for one year by Judge Katherine Delahunt.

Patrick Hughes (aged 82), of Park Drive Court, Castleknock, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four counts of indecent assault against the child, then an alter boy, aged between 11 and 14 years old, on dates between 1979 and 1983. The maximum penalty for the offence is two years.