Details of how a former Irish priest convicted of child abuse groomed his victims have emerged in the transcript of a deposition lodged in a California court earlier this week.
Limerick-born Oliver O'Grady (59), who is now living in Thurles, recently gave an American lawyer a 15-hour deposition on how he abused children in California. The deposition is part of a lawsuit being taken by some of his victims against the diocese of Stockton where he formerly ministered.
Mr O'Grady was compelled to give a deposition against the Diocese of Stockton by a Coasta Mesa-based attorney, John C Manly, who travelled to Ireland in March to take a statement.
In the deposition, which was videotaped by Mr Manly from which a transcript was filed with the Oakland Court on Tuesday, Mr O'Grady described his career as a paedophile in the Californian diocese over several decades.
Asked to demonstrate how he would entice one of his estimated 25 victims, Mr O'Grady smiled directly into the video camera as he showed how he tested whether the child would resist his advances or not.
"Hi, Sally. How are you doing? Come here, I want to give you a hug. You are a sweetheart.You know that.You are very special to me. I like you a lot," said Mr O'Grady, adding that if the child did not resist, he took their compliance as "permission" to molest.
Gardaí were notified by American police that Mr O'Grady had moved back to Ireland. Mr O'Grady was not at home yesterday when The Irish Times called to his rented house in Thurles but it is understood that he has been living there for several months.
In 1998, an American jury awarded one of Mr O'Grady's victims $30 million in damages. it was later reduced by a judge to $7 million. Mr O'Grady was laicised following his conviction for sexually abusing two young brothers in the Stockton Diocese in the 1980s. He was deported to Ireland in 2001 after serving seven years in California State Prison for the offences.
His behaviour caused embarrassment to Cardinal Roger M Mahony, who, after police declined to file charges against Mr O'Grady in 1984, transferred him to a rural parish where he allegedly molested three more victims.
In his video deposition, Mr O'Grady chided church officials for failing to remove him from his ministry when his molestation problems began. "I think it would probably have been best, if back in 1984, they said 'look, we need to put a halt to this, we need to take you out . . .'."
However, Mr O'Grady refused to name any of his 25 victims, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.