Seventeen people have made allegations of sexual abuse against a paedophile priest who was deported from the US to Ireland, new statistics released by the Catholic Church in California have shown.
Allegations against Oliver O'Grady, who was jailed for seven years for sexually molesting two brothers and is no longer a priest, comprise more than half the allegations made against priests in the Stockton diocese in the last 53 years. The Stockton diocese, located in central California, believed one of the claims was false, according to the report.
The figures are part of a national survey ordered by the church to assess the extent of allegations against priests across the US. Although the entire survey will not be published until late February, about one-third of dioceses have issued their statistics in advance.
At least four alleged victims of O'Grady are taking civil action against the church under a Californian law that lifts the legal time limit for claims in sexual abuse cases, provided the cases were lodged in 2003.
The church has to pay $13 million to two brothers sexually abused by O'Grady, and two other siblings in the family are also taking claims. O'Grady pleaded guilt to abuse charges in 1993 and was deported back to Ireland in 2003.
Mr Larry Drivon, who acted for the family, said that the two brothers had been paid $7.5 million and were awaiting the remainder of the judgment. They said the church's report "vastly underestimated" the overall extent of the problem.
Some 29 people alleged sexual abuse by 10 clergy affiliated with the diocese of Stockton between 1950 and 2003, according to the study ordered by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. The 10 accused priests made up 2.47 per cent of the priests in the diocese over that time, the survey said.