Defrocked Irish priest charged with possession of child pornography

Read more: Pedophile priest flees back to Ireland, where he is a free man

Read more: Irish ex-priest and convicted sex offender receives $800 a month pension from Church

The defrocked cleric, Oliver O’Grady, was charged with the possession of thousands of pornographic images of children at the Dublin District Court on Friday last. Some of the children are as young as two-years-old.

Despite police objections he was granted bail by Judge James McDonnell. The court heard that the 65-year-old former priest was arrested at a Dublin hostel on Friday morning. The police confiscated images and videos on a USB key, external hard drive and a laptop.

Detective Johanna Doyle said “We are talking about thousands upon thousands of images of child pornography. Children from the age of two and three up to teenage boys and girls."

O’Grady confessed to molesting up to 25 children in the United States. He was charged with the molestation of two brothers between 1978 and 1991.

However, during interview for the award-winning documentary “Deliver us From Evil” he confessed to having molested up to 25 children.

His acts cost the Stockton diocese millions in settlement claims from sexual abuse lawsuits.
In 1993 he went to prison to serve a 14-year-sentence for his crimes. He was released after six years and deported to Ireland.

Stockton Diocese Bishop Stephen Blaire told O’Grady to request to be removed from the priesthood. The priest refused at first but said that he would agree to leaving the priesthood if the Church gave his a monthly allowance. The Church agreed and O’grady received $800 a month.

Defense lawyer Dara Robinson said that Mr O’Grady had a difficult personal situation and no financial means. He said “His personal circumstances are very unfortunate; he is a highly educated man who has had a very serious fall from grace. He has significant estrangement from his family and his social circumstances have changed."

Mr O’Grady rents a storage facility and a post box to store his belongings while he lives in Citi Hostel in Dublin’s city center. The police also told the court that further charges were likely to follow.

They also explained that Mr O’Grady had lived in various locations since he was deported from the United States in 2001.

The police asked that another condition of bail be that Mr O’Grady have no contact with children. The Judge said this was not possible as he is living in a hostel.

The Judge consented to bail with the condition that Mr O’Grady sign in at the Harcourt Terrace Garda Station twice a day before he appears in court next Friday.