An 85-year-old Irish Catholic priest has been arrested on the Spanish island of Tenerife for the sexual abuse of young boys in Britain, spanning a 37-year period.
Paul Cullen, originally from Dublin, was arrested in the town of Arona, in the Canary Islands. He was wanted by the police for alleged indecent assaults in Derbyshire, in Britain. It is alleged that this abuse took place between 1955 and 1991. Some of the children, altar boys, were aged just 7, 8 and 12 when they were first abused.
According to the Daily Mail, Cullen told police that he was “teaching sexual practices” for later life.
The priest was detained on a European arrest warrant, issued in Britain. He will be taken to the National Court in Madrid.
The alleged abuse took place in religious centers and churches. It’s also reported that the first instance took place when Cullen was just 27, 58 years ago.
One of the seven-year-olds was abused on ten or 12 times, until the age of 14.
The second victim was an eight-year-old altar boy when the abuse started. It went on until he was 16.
The third was a 12-year-old who had been placed in Cullen’s care for two weeks in 1991. Cullen allegedly abused this boy at home and in the changing rooms of the church.
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