US court rejects O'Grady lawsuit

A Californian court has struck down a lawsuit brought against the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly that was taken by a US victim…

A Californian court has struck down a lawsuit brought against the Archdiocese of Cashel and Emly that was taken by a US victim of Irish paedophile priest Oliver O'Grady.

The victim's lawyer, John Manly, said last night that he will appeal the decision and will fight the case "with every last breath of my body".

Mr Manly also said he had now found another victim of O'Grady who was abused in the Cashel and Emly archdiocese and that gardaí have been notified.

In the latest ruling in California, Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland, California, found that there was no admissible evidence that the archdiocese knew that O'Grady was a paedophile while he attended a seminary in Thurles and therefore was not responsible for O'Grady's abuse of children in Stockton diocese in California.

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In reaching its decision, the court refused to admit a photograph showing O'Grady dressed in women's clothing during a social event at the seminary.

Mr Manly said that O'Grady admitted in court depositions that he abused some of his victims while wearing women's clothing.

The Archbishop of Cashel and Emly, Dermot Clifford, said in a statement that he prayed that Oliver O'Grady's victims achieved healing but strongly denied that authorities at St Patrick's College in Thurles or the former archbishop, Dr Thomas Morris, knew that O'Grady was a paedophile.

The Catholic Church press office released a statement saying that "many inflammatory accusations" had been made against the archdiocese and these allegations had now been rejected by the court.

O'Grady served seven years in a Californian prison for abusing two brothers. He returned to Ireland in 2000 and has been living in Dublin.

Deliver Us From Evil, a documentary about the O'Grady scandal, is a favourite for a best documentary Oscar nomination, according to the New York Times.