Sean Fortune's crimes continue to have an enormous impact on his victims, writes Alison O'Connor
When Father Sean Fortune committed suicide in 1999 he left a devastating legacy. For decades, from when he was a young seminarian in Wexford, throughout his 20 years as a priest, he was a serial abuser of young boys.
Four suicides by young men have been linked to Fortune and the lives of countless others, including their families, have been marked forever.
The case brought by the Garda against Fortune, which was due for trial in March 1999, involved eight young men. However a number of others have come forward since then to speak of their abuse.
Mr Colm O'Gorman is perhaps the best known of Fortune's victims. Articulate and courageous he is the founder of a charity in the UK "One in Four" which assists people who have been sexually abused. He speaks from experience of his own case and that of those whom he has helped, of the effects of such abuse.
"I used to believe that I was the sickest, most foul person on the planet. As a child you believe the only time you will be hurt is if you are being naughty. If you are hurt you think you have done something really, really wrong. Father Fortune told me that I had a problem and that he had to help me with it. He'd said he would tell my parents and I was terrified of that happening. This man was a priest. That may seem ridiculous now but it was different back then."
This sort of psychological blackmail is typical of paedophiles and particularly of Fortune. There was a pattern to how he selected his victims and made them more vulnerable to his advances.
He would question them on intimate matters - their feelings about girls, then their feelings about boys and how they felt about sex - manipulating their answers. After abusing them he would make them swear on a Bible that they would not tell.
One of the boys who made a statement to the Garda about Fortune explained that on the evening the priest had abused him he began to feel his penis and urged him to do the same to him. He offered him alcohol and then began asking him questions.
He asked the boy if he would go to bed with his friend? Would he do so under the influence of alcohol.
The boy replied that he had never drunk and did not know how much control he would lose. Fortune then told him he had taped their conversation. He also told him that if he did well in his Intermediate Certificate he would buy him a motorbike; and a car for a good Leaving Certificate.
He repeatedly asked another young boy about what he had done sexually with his girlfriend. Once he divulged a few innocent details Fortune told him he would never be able to look the girl's father in the face again without telling him what had occurred.
The questioning on sexual matters continued and concluded with Fortune asking the boy would he sleep with him. Frightened he said he wanted to leave but first Fortune said he would swear on the Bible that he would not repeat anything to the girl's parents. Then he directed the boy to put his right hand on the Bible and swear he would repeat nothing heard during the conversation.
For these young men the bitterness and division left behind in the parish following Fortune's departure and subsequent arrest made revealing what they had suffered all the more difficult.
The parents of some told investigating gardaí in 1995 that they did not wish their children to become involved.
The gardaí had got the names of these boys from others who had been abused by the priest.
Of the 29 charges of sexual abuse which Fortune faced before his death, one related to the buggery of Colm O'Gorman. Colm has been through seven years of therapy which he continues.
"It continues to have an impact on my life but it is not a life sentence. My life was destroyed for 15 or 16 years but now I manage to live a very happy, whole and very successful life. But I have learnt where my vulnerabilities are and to take care of them."
He explains some of the effects of sexual abuse.
"The effects on a child later on can be devastating, and include attempts to take their own life; self harm; drug and alcohol abuse; difficulty in relationships; sexual dysfunction or eating disorders. There can also be flashbacks, nightmares, depression and anxiety."
The impact, he points out, is not necessarily linked to the extent or level of the abuse.
"There are lots of other factors including what kind of support they received; how long they had to keep it a secret; the attitude of people to whom they told their story. It is a very individual thing."