Gardaí seek former Irish priest on child sex abuse allegations in UK

A former Irish priest facing allegations of child sex abuse from the 1960s to the 1980s is due in court in London today.

Seventy-two-year-old Peter Kennedy was deported from Brazil to England on St Stephen's Day.

Kennedy first hit the headlines in 2003 when one of his former victims was awarded €325,000 in one of the largest ever pay-outs at an Irish clerical sex abuse case.

He fled to Brazil on a British passport, where he worked as an English teacher until the authorities there deported him 10 days ago.

He is due before the City of Westminster's Magistrates Court today, and as soon as he is extradited from Britain, Gardaí are expected to bring charges against him.

Up to 18 people have made statements to Gardaí alleging that they were sexually abused by Kennedy.

The suicides of two young men have also been examined as part of the Garda investigation.

Kennedy is a former member of St Patrick’s Missionary Society.

He was ordained in 1964 and worked for a few years in Kenya in East Africa and thereafter he worked in Ireland.

According to St Patrick’s Missionary Society, he ceased active ministry in 1986 and was formally laicised in 2003.