June 15, 2002
Church can be sued over altar boy sex abuse
By Oliver Wright
The Times
A FORMER altar boy was given permission yesterday to sue the Roman Catholic Church for the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.
This is the first time that an action against the Church, not an alleged abuser, has reached a court and could lead to many similar claims being made.
The Archdiocese of Birmingham had tried to claim that because the alleged abuse of Simon Grey took place nearly 20 years ago it was now too late to bring a claim.
But at the High Court in London, Deputy Judge John Leighton Williams, QC, dismissed the argument, ruling that Mr Grey could proceed with a £100,000 action for negligence against the Church.
Lawyers for Mr Grey, 36, told the High Court that he had been sexually abused over an eight-year period from 1975 by Father Christopher Clonan, who was then assistant parish priest at Christ the King Church, Coundon, Coventry.
Robert Seabrook, QC, said the weekly abuse began when Mr Grey, an adoptee, was a 10-year-old altar boy and that it had a "devastating effect" on his life and personality.
"He was subjected to appalling abuse," Mr Seabrook said, "(of) the most serious end of the spectrum in the most degrading and humiliating circumstances, all within a community of a devoted Roman Catholic family and parish."
Mr Grey had turned to crime, become an alcoholic, and had injured himself to the extent that he had almost cut off an arm and, on another occasion, set himself alight.
But Father Clonan was never tried and his whereabouts were unknown since he fled the UK when complaints became known in 1992.The Archbishop and the Trustees have denied liability and say that Mr Grey's pre-existing vulnerability and family life were responsible for his injuries.
Church can be sued over altar boy sex abuse
By Oliver Wright
The Times
A FORMER altar boy was given permission yesterday to sue the Roman Catholic Church for the sexual abuse he suffered as a child.
This is the first time that an action against the Church, not an alleged abuser, has reached a court and could lead to many similar claims being made.
The Archdiocese of Birmingham had tried to claim that because the alleged abuse of Simon Grey took place nearly 20 years ago it was now too late to bring a claim.
But at the High Court in London, Deputy Judge John Leighton Williams, QC, dismissed the argument, ruling that Mr Grey could proceed with a £100,000 action for negligence against the Church.
Lawyers for Mr Grey, 36, told the High Court that he had been sexually abused over an eight-year period from 1975 by Father Christopher Clonan, who was then assistant parish priest at Christ the King Church, Coundon, Coventry.
Robert Seabrook, QC, said the weekly abuse began when Mr Grey, an adoptee, was a 10-year-old altar boy and that it had a "devastating effect" on his life and personality.
"He was subjected to appalling abuse," Mr Seabrook said, "(of) the most serious end of the spectrum in the most degrading and humiliating circumstances, all within a community of a devoted Roman Catholic family and parish."
Mr Grey had turned to crime, become an alcoholic, and had injured himself to the extent that he had almost cut off an arm and, on another occasion, set himself alight.
But Father Clonan was never tried and his whereabouts were unknown since he fled the UK when complaints became known in 1992.The Archbishop and the Trustees have denied liability and say that Mr Grey's pre-existing vulnerability and family life were responsible for his injuries.