Former priest and serial child abuser Oliver O'Grady to serve prison sentence in Portugal
O'Grady (80) was arrested on January 21, 2025 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by a court in Faro in Portugal
Ex-priest Oliver O'Grady
O'Grady (80) of Rostrevor Court, Mackin Street, Dublin 2 was arrested on January 21, 2025 on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by a court in Faro in Portugal.
The EAW states that O'Grady was tried on a charge of possession of "pornography of minors", convicted and sentenced to one year in prison in his absence by a Portuguese court after he failed to attend his trial on May 7, 2024.
In opposing his surrender to Portugal, O'Grady complained that his fair trial rights were not adequately protected in the process that led to his conviction. He said that he had been unable to contact a lawyer appointed to defend him in Portugal.
He further complained that his surrender would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights and the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms because of a real risk of inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in the Portuguese prison system.
To bolster his claim, he said he spent time in the Prisional de Setubal in Portugal in October, 2019 after he was arrested on foot of an EAW from Ireland. He maintained that while incarcerated there he was not provided with medication, the facilities were unhygienic and, as a segregated prisoner on remand in respect of sexual offences, he was abused and had apples thrown at him.
However, Mr Justice Patrick McGrath at the High Court in Dublin found O'Grady's evidence relating to the trial process to be "disingenuous and self-serving". The judge found that O'Grady had tried to control the proceedings.
Portuguese authorities, through An Garda Siochána, notified O'Grady of his obligation to attend his trial and the consequences of failure to attend, the judge said. There was no impediment to him travelling for his trial and, being a man familiar with the court system, he knew his inability to contact a lawyer did not excuse him from attendance, Mr Justice McGrath said.
O'Grady revealed his true mindset in an email he sent to the Portuguese prosecutor on April 11, 2024, the judge said. In the email, O'Grady showed that he knew of the impending hearing date but suggested he might not attend unless he could be assured of being admitted to bail.
Mr Justice McGrath said: "This is not the mindset of a person who is unaware of a duty to attend at court and of the possible consequences of non-attendance, but rather shows a person who is trying to control the outcome of proceedings."
Mr Justice McGrath added that O'Grady was "clearly trying to manipulate the system to try to secure a certain outcome". Had he attended his trial, as he was required to do, he would have been given proper legal assistance before entering a plea, the judge said. His failure to obtain effective legal assistance flows from his failure to attend, Mr Justice McGrath added.
Ex-priest Oliver O'Grady
Today's News in 90 Seconds - July 8th
In relation to the risk of inhuman or degrading treatment, Mr Justice McGrath said the conditions at the Carreguiera prison in which O'Grady will be housed in Portugal have not been criticised. He said he is satisfied from assurances given by the Portuguese authorities that no such risk exists.
O'Grady has a long history of sexual offences against children. Originally from Limerick, O'Grady emigrated to America after joining the priesthood. In 1993 he was convicted in California of lewd acts against children for repeatedly molesting two brothers.
He was released after serving seven years in prison before being deported to Ireland in 2001.
His crimes in California were the subject of a 2006 documentary titled 'Deliver us From Evil', in which O'Grady gave an account of his offending.
In January 2012, he was jailed in Ireland for three years for possessing hundreds of thousands of images of child pornography.
The images were discovered after he left his computer on an Aer Lingus flight in February 2010 and a staff member who discovered the files on the device alerted gardaí. 280,000 images showing children in sexual poses and 1,000 video files of child abuse material, known in law as "child pornography", were discovered on the device.
He moved to Amsterdam where he lived for several years before returning to Ireland. It was on this flight back to his home country that he left his laptop behind.
In 2020, he was sentenced to 22 months in prison at Waterford Circuit Court for possessing child pornography.
He had pleaded not guilty to one charge of possessing a video of an underage girl engaging in a sexual act on a date between December 2015 and March 2016 at St Otteran's Place, South Parade, Waterford city but was convicted by a jury.
A former housemate reported O'Grady to gardaí after discovering a sexually explicit video on the computer.
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