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Retired Irish priest faces abuse charges in Australian court

Finian Egan, 77, has been charged with indecently assaulting a girl on three occasions in the 1960s.

13/09/12 5,240 Views 33 Comments
Finian Egan was not present when the charges were heard at the Downing Centre court in Sydney.
Finian Egan was not present when the charges were heard at the Downing Centre court in Sydney.
Image: Google Maps

A RETIRED IRISH PRIEST has appeared in a court in Australia charged with three counts of sexual abuse dating from the 1960s.

The Australian Associated Press said the charges against Finian James Egan, aged 77, relate to three alleged offences against a girl in central Sydney between 1961 and 1962.

Egan did not appear in court at Downing Centre local court in Sydney for today’s charges.

The Irish Echo notes that Egan had already been charged with 17 sexual offences in May of this year, but those offences had occurred between 1972 and 1987.

It said he had not entered a plea to those cases, which relate to three girls and one boy.

It added that a non-publication order was made regarding the identities of Egan’s alleged victims.

Egan remains on bail with the matters adjourned until November.

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Gavan Reilly
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gavan@thejournal.ie

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Comments (33 Comments)

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  • Marist '59 13/09/12 #

    For centuries RC clergymen have commanded the moral high ground and dictated how people should lead their lives. During the 20th century they even dictated how successive gombeen Irish governments ran the country. Therefore, the spotlight tends to fall on them rather than the lay psychopathic pedophile. I witnessed their despicable behaviour during the 40s/50s during my school days in Ireland but they had such a grip on the national psyche that a family name could be destroyed if you dared to complain about their wrongdoing. I say bang them away amongst the normal prison population. That way they get to taste their own medicine.

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  • Seamus Donoghue 13/09/12 #

    There’s a surprise…

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  • rhonda o shea 13/09/12 #

    no surprise there ….

    Reply
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  • Stephen McMahon 13/09/12 #

    Tip of the iceberg. They were all at it, either actually abusing or covering in up.

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    • Paul Furey 13/09/12 #

      “All” Stephen?

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    • Stephen McMahon 13/09/12 #

      Yes all, I find it very hard to believe that they all were not at the least aware of extremely dodgy practices relating to children. And thats the least of it. I believe that a majority must have known of paedophiles in their midst and either did nothing or actively supported them.

      Reply
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    • Stephen McMahon 13/09/12 #

      Just wanna point out, because someone will undoubtedly accuse me of saying so, I am NOT saying all priests/brothers abused children.

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    • Sean Slevin 13/09/12 #

      So Stephen has just gone from ‘they were all at it’ to ‘most of them’ to ‘most of them knew about it’.
      What is it Stephen?
      No they were not all at it or all knew about it. Your comment is stupid,
      pathetic, and ill informed.
      You are shooting from the lip with the popular line. what’s more your are back peddling when challenged.

      pathetic

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    • Tertullian 13/09/12 #

      What a moronic comment.

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    • Tertullian 13/09/12 #

      Stephen’s one, that is.

      Reply
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    • Stephen McMahon 13/09/12 #

      Sorry Sean but learn to read before having a go, moron. Read my posts, take your head out of your church loving arse and appologise. What I said was they all were at it, either directly involved or knowing and covering up or minimum keeping quiet. That makes them all liable.

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    • Sean Slevin 14/09/12 #

      Stephen. Do you have any way of communicating without using bad language or am I testing the limit of your vocabulary. I don’t have any great affinity with the catholic church but can
      clearly see the flaws in your argument that they all knew about it. Let me put you on the spot with a specific. Are you saying that Fr. Peter McVerry the tireless campaigner of the homeless and needy is guilty of a cover up? There goes your theory blown apart.
      You are a fool with a fools opinion.

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    • Sean Slevin 14/09/12 #

      Stephen.
      Read your posts again.
      You are back peddling, back tracking.
      Call me what you want but you are full of contradictions.

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  • Seán Lynch 13/09/12 #

    Lock them all up and the kiddy fiddlers too.

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  • Patrick Roe 13/09/12 #

    More importantly – How can we blame this on the English ??

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  • Rory Conway 13/09/12 #

    It’ official. It’ a disease. It’s a global pandemic.

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  • David Barrett 13/09/12 #

    Great way to help the reputation of Irish people out there …ffs

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  • TJD Murphy 13/09/12 #

    There are Irish men appearing in the Irish courts and courts in the USA and Australia every day charged with sexually abusing theirs or other children. Yet we seldom hear anything about these cases. But if the alleged abuser has anything to do with Catholicism, particularly if he is a churchgoer, a priest or an ex-priest as in this case, you can be guaranteed the case will be reported- especially on The Journal.

    It’s no wonder many people, especially the young, view priesthood as synonymous with paedophaelia, and ignorant, generalised comments like “they’re all at it” are made, leading to priests suffering horrible verbal abuse from thugs in their parishes.

    The media are doing the public a great disservice by reporting abuse cases involving only clergymen to the exclusion of others. Go down to the CCJ in Dublin, seek out all the sexual abuse cases and report the lot, and inform the people of the true nature and extent of abuse in Ireland, both historical and current.

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    • John Murphy 13/09/12 #

      Fair enough comment TJD but I think though what makes the incidence of pedophilia in the Roman Church more notable is the systemic cover-up with the collusion of state authorities and the hypocrisy evident through it’s moralizing campaigns regarding the rights of non members in matters of abortion, contraception and civil same sex marriage.

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    • Dave Harris 13/09/12 #

      The thing is TJD that the church covered up their paedophiles and moved them about which allowed them to go on abusing children for many years.

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    • Kitty Prendergast 14/09/12 #

      The difference TJD is that Priests held themselves out to be moral leaders and bastions of goodness. Oh, the irony. It would be funny if it wasn’t so tragic.

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  • TJD Murphy 13/09/12 #

    Sexual abuse has a detrimental affect on the victim, no matter who the perpetrator is. By singling out the church cases- as happens currently – and ignoring the rest, news publications clearly cime to this issue with an agenda and betray more their antipathy towards Catholicism than a real and genuine concern for the victim of the crime. No sexual abuse case is more worthy of publication than the other.

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    • Bridget O'Hanlon 13/09/12 #

      TJD You don’t think priests, as arbiters of the moral rectitude of others, may be expected to hold to an even higher standard of personal morality than the ‘flock’ that they lead? all pedophiles are perverts, none more so than those who preach morals to the rest of us

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    • Rommel Burke 13/09/12 #

      Exactly Bridget,
      Not to mention the fact that other members of the catholic church willfully colluded in the widespread cover up of the crimes and further enabled more crimes to be committed.
      It is only now they are beginning to be brought to account and long may that continue.

      Reply
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    • Maria 13/09/12 #

      TJD : what are the stats do you know?

      Reply
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    • Maria 13/09/12 #

      I have a theory that many, though not all, entered the priesthood so they could escape from their real life issues. Also some likely entered it so they could have power and easy access to abuse children without fear of recrimination. Thinking about it, in general, why would a sane normal person give up so much that life has to offer, e.g. money, family, freedom? I know it was a respected profession in the past but what a sacrifice. I would like to see the actual stats re: ped

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  • Maria 13/09/12 #

    Interesting link here: in particular see what a gay US radio talk show host had to say about it: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2489752/posts

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  • TJD Murphy 13/09/12 #

    Bridget, I agree that citizens who become priests, politicians or gardai occupy a different social sphere and their crimes quite rightly attract more media attention.

    My point is that The Journal went to Australia for today’s church-related abuse story when there are probably 2 or 3 cases involving the sexual abuse of children by non-clergy being heard in the Irish courts today, and likewise in the Australian courts.

    Sexual abuse cases are ignored or overlooked by the media every day because they are not deemed newsworthy i.e. they might not involve a priest. This leads to people having a distorted view of the problem of sexual abuse and forming stereotypes as we have seen in Ireland. I believe the media has a duty to fully inform and educate the public about the true extent of the problem of sexual abuse. By picking out the cases involving clergy members and disregarding or ignoring the rest, the media is depriving the public of information which will enable a better understanding of the extent of the problem.

    By all means, report the clerical abuse cases, but don’t ignore the others. Report every single one.

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    • Dave Harris 13/09/12 #

      Again, the church covered up abuse cases. That is the difference

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    • Tony Hegarty 13/09/12 #

      TJD all perpetrator of child rape , torture and abuse must be exposed. This also applies to powerful organisations which facilitate and covered up the same crimes both here and internationally . Still there are members of the RCC who have committed these crimes and have not been punished or named publicly . They walk our streets and live around us. In this jurisdiction they were guaranteed impunity and anonymity through the redress board. Their victims silence was bought with paltry sums. I say name and shame all and don’t let the state or RCC away with it. Finally I say if you defend the RCC you defend an organisation which supported the rape , torture and abuse of innocent children , the forced labour and incarceration of innocent young women , the kidnap and sale (human trafficking) of the children of those same women . This has nothing to do with religion just corruption . Exposé them like they do in the USA see http://www.bishopaccountability.org

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