Brendan Smyth (priest)
| Brendan Smyth O.Praem | |
|---|---|
Fr. Brendan Smyth, c. 1965
|
|
| Born |
John Gerard Smyth 8 June 1927 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Died | 22 August 1997 (aged 70) Curragh Prison, County Kildare, Ireland |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Resting place | Kilnacrott Abbey |
| Occupation | Priest |
| Known for | Abuse of children |
| Criminal charge | 1991 arrested for child sexual abuse, spend three years in The Republic of Ireland before being extradited to Northern Ireland, |
| Criminal penalty | 1994, 4 years, +3 (concurrent) ; 12 years (died one month into sentence) |
| Allegiance | Catholic Church |
| Conviction(s) | 1994 in Belfast, 43 counts, + 26 later found; 1997 admitted to 74 counts of child sexual abuse |
Brendan Smyth O.Praem (8 June 1927 – 22 August 1997) was a Roman Catholic priest from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who became notorious as a child molester, using his position in the Roman Catholic Church to obtain access to his victims. During a period of over 40 years, Smyth sexually abused and indecently assaulted at least 143 children in parishes in Belfast, Dublin and the United States. His actions were frequently hidden from police and the public by Roman Catholic officials. Controversy surrounding his case contributed to the downfall of the government of Republic of Ireland in December 1994.
Born John Gerard Smyth, in Belfast, Northern Ireland, Smyth, upon joining the Norbertine Roman Catholic religious order in 1945, changed his name to Brendan. The Norbertines, also known as the "Premonstratensians," were aware of Smyth's crimes as early as the late 1970s, yet they did not report him to either the Garda Síochána or the Royal Ulster Constabulary. Smyth was moved from parish to parish and between dioceses and countries whenever allegations were made. In some cases, the order did not inform the diocesan bishop that Smyth had a history of sexual abuse and should be kept away from children. He abused children in parishes in Rhode Island and North Dakota and at one time worked in Boston, all in the USA, and was suspected of similar actions while on pastoral work in Wales and Italy. Norbertine Father Bruno Mulvihill made several attempts to alert church authorities about the abuse committed by Smyth.
Smyth's first conviction followed the reporting to police of his abuse of four siblings in Belfast's Falls Road. After his arrest in 1991, he fled to the Republic of Ireland, where he spent the next three years on the run, staying mostly at Kilnacrott Abbey. This led to the collapse of the Fianna Fáil–Labour Party coalition government when the poor handling of an extradition request from the RUC by the Irish Attorney General's office led to a further delay of Smyth's trial. An award-winning UTV Counterpoint programme on the scandal by journalist Chris Moore, followed by a book, accused the head of the Norbertines and the Archbishop of Armagh of mishandling the case, and the Norbertines of negligence and a failure to tell others of Smyth's crimes, enabling Smyth to sexually abuse large numbers of children for 40 years.
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