Clerical sex abuser lived quietly in Prosperous village for 20 years

Residents in Prosperous have expressed concern that an ex-priest, who indecently assaulted a young boy, was living among them for over two decades.

Former cleric Eamonn Crossan had been residing in Rath View, a quiet residential area just off the main route through the village leading to Allenwood.

The ex parish priest was jailed less than a fortnight ago for plying a 13 year old boy with alcohol and abusing him at a parochial house in County Donegal.

Crossan was sentenced to three years in custody, with the final 12 months suspended, and placed on the sex offenders register for 10 years.

Crossan admitted taking the boy back to the parochial house in the seaside village of Kincasslagh on an unknown date between 1984 and 1985 and indecently assaulting him.

He appeared at Letterkenny Circuit Court before Judge John Aylmer where he admitted a single charge of indecent assault against the boy, the Irish Examiner reported. When a complaint was made to the Church about the assault in 1998, Crossan was immediately laicized.

One Prosperous man, who did not want to be identified, the father of two young children, said people living there for over 20 years didn’t know who Crossan was or that he was an ex-priest.

He claimed that Crossan has invited children to look at his vegetable patch and flower garden — though there was no suggestion of impropriety.

“Many children who lived here have grown up and moved out but I’m trying to make it uncomfortable for him to come back here,” he told the Leader.

He added: “There is a lot of anger here that people didn’t know about him because there are a lot of children here. He would be walking around when children are at school, but I know there’s nothing illegal about that. (If Crossan returned) I wouldn’t let my kids out on the green if I knew he was there.”

He claimed that Crossan, understood to be a regular mass goer in Prosperous, ‘tried to engage’ his children. He also said that Crossan had few if any visitors.

Another resident, who also did not want to be named, said that local people were horrified when news of the court hearing emerged and claimed that Crossan ‘thought it’d never come to light’.

The resident said she had contacted the Courts Service and the defendant’s legal team because she wants his sentence to be reviewed, adding “he shouldn't have had any part of it suspended”.

She asked: “If he’s on the sex offenders register will be people be told about (this case)?” She also claimed that, while living in Rath View, the former priest would offer to repair childrens’ bikes.

She said that if he has been engaging with children on any level in the community, adults have a right to know about him.

The woman also said that it could take a considerable amount of time before any allegations of improper conduct emerge.

During the court case, it emerged that Crossan, 69, gave the boy alcohol including Smithwicks and shots of whiskey. The boy then woke up in bed naked beside Crossan, who was also naked in a bed in the house.

The victim, Kevin O'Brien, instructed his solicitor to waive his right to anonymity so that Crossan could be named. In April 2017, the victim made a statement to gardai and Crossan entered a guilty plea when prosecuted.

Reports submitted to the court placed Crossan between a low and a modest risk of reoffending. He also entered a guilty plea when prosecuted in 2017. The judge noted he was genuinely remorseful.

Following the sentencing the Diocese of Raphoe released a statement in which Bishop Alan McGuckian apologised to the victim and his family. The statement confirmed Crossan was a priest in the diocese from 1976 and was removed from ministry immediately on reception of the complaint in 1998 and that the Garda and HSE/Tusla were informed then.