An altar boy whose complaints of sexual abuse by Ivan Payne were referred twice to Dr Dermot O'Mahony, an auxiliary bi shop of Dublin, was later turned down as unsuitable for the priesthood.
Payne has admitted sex assaults on patients in Our Lady's Children's Hospital where he was chaplain, and on altar boys.
The man, who is now in his 30s, told Dublin Circuit Criminal Court he had set his heart from early childhood on becoming a priest and, when rejected, his life disintegrated, causing him to turn to drink.
He recollected being sexually assaulted by Payne about 130 times over three years.
Det Sgt Bernard Sherry agreed with Mr Tom O'Connell, prosecuting, that this victim and his family became increasingly upset and angry when nothing seemed to have been done about Payne a long time after their complaints had been twice referred to Dr O'Mahony.
Det Sgt Sherry said another victim who came from a disfunctional family claimed Payne engaged in what Mr O'Connell described as "a sinister confessional ritual" with him while they indulged in mutual masturbation.
Payne would wear his confessional garb and told the victim masturbation and ejaculation were all right. The victim was shocked and taken aback at first but accepted what the priest said was correct, but he rejected Payne's attempt to get him to engage in oral sex and other "unnatural acts".
Judge Cyril Kelly heard that Payne was sent to the St John of God Centre by the Dublin archdiocese in 1981 for assessment in relation to sexual deviancy but he continued to offend for several more years. Some of the complaints about him were made after media publicity in the Brendan Smyth case.
Payne (54), with an address care of the Dublin archdiocese, has pleaded guilty to 13 sample charges of indecently assaulting nine boys on dates from 1968 to 1987.
The offences were committed on patients in Our Lady's Hospital for Sick Children, Crumlin, Dublin, while he was chaplain, and on altar boys in locations in Glasnevin and Sutton. The victims were all aged from about 11 to 14 years. Payne's counsel, Mr Michael McDowell SC, said his client accepted all the evidence relating to all the charges. Det Sgt Sherry said the offending generally involved Payne handling the victim's genitals as well as mutual masturbation in the case of one victim.
There had also been comment among young male patients about Payne with the general advice to be wary of him.
Det Sgt Sherry said one of Payne's hospital victims encountered him some years later while visiting another hospital and became disturbed when he saw the defendant sitting on the side of a bed with his arm around a young boy. This victim had not made any complaint about his own abuse while a patient.
Another hospital victim who suffered from polio told gardai years later he shouted out and tried to hit Payne when he handled his penis. The victim was in great pain at the time after a leg operation and had told Payne he wanted it cut off.
Det Sgt Sherry agreed with Mr O'Connell that both of these victims, in common with all the others, were still distressed. Victims told variously of suffering panic attacks in later life, their study being affected and of marriage difficulties. Some were still getting counselling. Payne was regarded as a charismatic person and was highly thought of in the communities in which he worked. He was accepted by several of the victims' families. His victims were generally shy and vulnerable and many of them came from very religious homes, which inhibited them from complaining.
Det Sgt Sherry said when he interviewed Payne, the names of the victims either were known to him or meant something to him but he said he had been advised by his solicitor not to admit any wrongdoing.
Det Sgt Sherry said the Garda investigation began following complaints by two north city brothers. The archdiocese's solicitors began rerouting other victims to the detective after media publicity concerning a civil settlement with another victim.
The victim who had wanted to become a priest told a school ca reer-guidance teacher what Payne was doing to him. He felt different to all his peers and wondered why it was happening to him. The teacher contacted the diocesan chancellor, Father Alec Stenson, who referred him to Dr O'Mah ony. The teacher told the bishop about the complaint and was told it would be acted on. When nothing was done he went back to Dr O'Mahony a second time.
He was given no reason other than he was "unsuitable" when rejected for entry into Clonliffe seminary. The effect on him was so bad he left Ireland about seven months later and continued drinking heavily for several years.
Payne's sister, Ms Jacinta Lof tus, told Mr McDowell she had flown in from her home in Virginia in the US to give evidence on his behalf. Their mother was very dominant while their father was more placid and less religious.
She believed her mother was incapable of displaying maternal warmth. She refused to allow her children to play outside with other children. Her brother was shy and introverted and generally a loner as a boy and did not have a normal relationship with his peers.
He was the only boy and their mother, who "virtually put him on a pedestal", was overjoyed and delighted when he entered the priesthood. She had great expectations of all the family, especially of Payne.
Consultant psychiatrist Dr Patrick Walsh, director of the Granada Institute run by the Order of St John of God, told Mr McDowell that clerical people represented about 50 per cent of the people attending it. The institute dealt with victims and perpretrators of sexual abuse.
Dr Walsh said Payne's of fending was regressive paedophi liac rather than compulsive fixated. Regressive paedophilia could be treated with success rates of up to 92 per cent where the offenders who acknowledged their wrongdoing tended to respond to therapy.
Many abusers were people who developed "anxious attachments" with children and failed to form proper relationships with them arising out of loneliness in adolescence. The family background described by Payne's sister fitted into that mould.
Dr Walsh said few abusers entered religious life or took up other positions just to gain access to children. Dr Walsh agreed with Mr McDowell's suggestion that a two-phased sentence involving a suspended portion to allow for continued therapy would be the best in this case.
The hearing continues.