Oliver O'Grady

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Oliver O'Grady is an former Irish Roman Catholic priest who molested a number of children in California from 1976 onwards.

Born in Limerick, Ireland, O'Grady was ordained into the priesthood at seminary in Thurles, Co Tipperary during the late 1960's. He immigrated to the United States in 1971 ^[1]. He served as s priest at St. Anne's Catholic Church in Lodi, California from 1971 to 1978. He later served at Church of the Presentation in Stockton, California, Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Turlock, California, St. Andrew's Parish San Andreas, California, and St. Anthony's Catholic Church in Hughson, California ^[2].

In 1993 he was convicted on four counts of "lewd and lascivious acts" on two minors, the brothers Joh and James Howard, and sentenced to 14 years in prison. Attorney Jeff Anderson said the Howard brothers were repeatedly molested between 1978 and 1991, from age 3 to 13. Anderson argued that church officials knew that O'Grady had abused children as early as 1976 and 1984, but had done nothing to prevent him from abusing other children. In 1998 a civil jury ordered the Catholic Diocese of Stockton to pay $30 million in damages to the brothers. A judge later reduced the amount to $7 million. ^[3] O'Grady was paroled from prison in 2000 after serving seven years and went living in Ireland after being deported from the United States.

In a 2005 video taped deposition, O'Grady revealed that he had abused as many as 25 children in and around Northen California. ^[4]

O'Grady is the subject of the 2006 Academy Award nominated documentary, Deliver Us From Evil. In the film O'Grady states, "I want to promise myself this is going to be the most honest confession of my life." He then describes his pedophilic urges and details how he preyed on children. He also claims that church officials knew about his abuses, but protected him by moving him from parish to parish. ^{[5] [6]}

In 2006 he was spotted in Dublin's north side, as was discussed on the Joe Duffy Radio programme on RTÉ Radio One by a dublin trader from the Mountjoy area of Dublin's North Circular road as of 14:00, December 14th, 2006.^{[citation needed]}

An interview during the year 2006 with The Daily Mirror newspaper revealed that Oliver O'Grady has been undergoing counselling ever since his release from prison and there is no indication that he will re-offend. In the same Interview it was acknowledged that the police authorities have always been aware of his location ever since he arrived in Ireland and has voluntarily placed himself on the sex offenders register".^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References

1. ^ Doyle, Paddy (2006-05-13). Holy Crusader. Irish Independent.
2. ^ Farrow, Ross (2006-12-4). O'Grady Victim from St. Anne's Sues Irish Archdiocese. Lodi News-Sentinel.
3. ^ Lattin, Don (1998-07-16). $30 Million Awarded to Men Molested by Priest. San Francisco Chronicle.
4. ^ Guccione, Jean (2005-05-11). A Glimpse at the Mind of a Pedophile. Los Angeles Times.
5. ^ Griffin, Drew. Priest makes 'most honest confession' of his life. CNN.com. Retrieved on November 25, 2006.
6. ^ Piccalo, Gina (2006-06-26). Abuser Becomes Church's Accuser. Los Angeles Times.