A family yesterday accused the Southern Health Board of a coverup, saying it had refused to tell them to whether or not their son may have been interfered with by a man currently being investigated for alleged sex abuse.
The family fear the 15-year-old boy - who has the mental age of a 10 year old and was voluntarily put into the board's care because he repeatedly ran away from home - may have been abused over the past year by the man.
The family claims that since they first heard that the man was being investigated for alleged sex abuse of two other boys, they have been unable to find out if their son may have been similarly abused by the man.
"We heard about this man about eight weeks ago and we've been trying to get answers from the health board ever since. We've had nothing but cover-ups. It's so bad we've had to hire a solicitor to get some answers," the boy's father said.
Councillor Con O'Leary, a member of the health board, said he was appalled that a family couldn't obtain information on whether their son may have been abused from a statutory body with responsibility for children.
"Here we have a body - the Southern Health Board - responsible for protecting children from sex abusers. And they won't tell the child's own family if he's one of the children they're investigating in this case. It's crazy."
Cllr O'Leary said what made the case even worse was fact the alleged abuser had been sub-contracted to work for the health board. "He wouldn't have had contact with the boy if he hadn't been put in a place of trust by the Southern Health Board," he said.
Meanwhile, a Garda source has confirmed that gardai have questioned the man after complaints of sexual abuse by two other boys he met daily in the course of his work for the health board. A file is being prepared for the DPP on the matter, according to the source.
The man, who is married with one child, is alleged to have brought the two boys, aged 10 and 11, to his house and indecently assaulted them while showing pornographic videos.
The solicitor retained by the family of the 15-year-old boy yesterday confirmed that he had written to the board just under two weeks ago requesting information for his clients, but he was still awaiting an official reply.
The board yesterday denied refusing information to the family. A senior social worker had been available to the family at all times and local social workers had been in regular contact with them, a spokesperson said.