Tony Walsh (priest)

Tony Walsh (born 1954) is a former Irish Roman Catholic priest who was convicted of child sexual abuse.{{Citation|last=McGarry|first=Patsy|title=Cruel crimes of the singing priest|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=11 December 2010|url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/weekend/2010/1211/1224285277760.html|accessdate=12 December 2010}}{{Citation|last1=Walsh|first1=Anne-Marie|last2=Gallagher|first2=Conor|title=Archbishop apologises as 'paedophile predator' jailed|newspaper=Irish Independent|date=7 December 2010|url=http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/archbishop-apologises-as-paedophile-predator-jailed-2450401.html|accessdate=12 December 2010}} In 2010, Walsh was convicted and had a 16-year sentence imposed on him "for the rape and abuse of three schoolboys."{{Citation|last=Times|first=The Irish|title=Former priest and serial child abuser Tony Walsh fails in sentence appeals|newspaper=The Irish Times|date=30 July 2014 |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/former-priest-and-serial-child-abuser-tony-walsh-fails-in-sentence-appeals-1.1883059|accessdate=12 December 2010}}

Career

In the late 1970s, Walsh became part of Father Michael Cleary's All Priests Show as an Elvis impersonator. He was dropped from the show in the 1980s following rumours of child abuse, which were not reported to the Gardaí. He was known as a "singing" priest.

Convictions

{{main|Sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic archdiocese of Dublin}}

In December 2010 he was sentenced to 123 years in prison for rape and sexual abuse committed against three schoolboys. The sentences were to be served concurrently, netting to a maximum of 16 years. At the time it was the most severe sentence imposed on a clerical child sex abuser in Ireland. All of the 14 charges which Walsh was convicted of involved acts of child sex abuse which occurred from the mid-1970s to mid 1980s. In December 2018, Walsh received an additional {{frac|3|1|2}}-year prison sentence, which will also be served concurrently, after he pleaded guilty to indecently assaulting a teenage boy with a crucifix in 1983.

Archbishop Diarmuid Martin apologised to Walsh's victims and admitted that the church had failed them.

=Murphy Report=

Chapter 19 of the Murphy Report was released by a High Court ruling on 15 December 2010 following the trial.{{cite news| url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1215/breaking22.html?via=rel | newspaper=The Irish Times | title=Judge clears abuse report chapter | date=12 December 2010}} On 17 December 2010 the Irish Times published the following quote from the report:

"Fr Tony Walsh is probably the most notorious child sexual abuser to have come to the attention of the Commission... His pattern of behaviour is such that it is likely that he has abused hundreds of children." – Introduction to Chapter 19 of the Murphy Report.{{cite news| url=http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2010/1217/breaking43.html | newspaper=The Irish Times | title=Quotes from Chapter 19 | date=12 December 2010}}

Current status

Due for release in 2021 he had his sentence extended by a further two years in July of that year.{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/he-brought-me-back-to-the-church-and-abused-me-victim-speaks-as-notorious-ex-priest-tony-walsh-gets-further-prison-time-40626814.html|title='He brought me back to the church and abused me' – victim speaks as notorious ex-priest Tony Walsh gets further prison time|first1=Conor|last1=Feehan|publisher=The Irish Independent|date=7 July 2021|accessdate=10 February 2022}} By the time of his December 2018 guilty plea, Walsh had already been in prison for 13 years.{{cite news |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/crime-and-law/courts/circuit-court/former-singing-priest-tony-walsh-jailed-for-3-years-over-indecent-assault-1.3736983|title=Former 'singing' priest Tony Walsh jailed for 3½ years over indecent assault |first1=Aoife Nic|last1=Ardghail|first2=Brion|last2=Hoban|publisher=Irish Times|date=19 December 2018 |accessdate=16 May 2020}} He was sentenced to another four years for similar offences in July 2022.{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.ie/irish-news/courts/paedophile-singing-priest-tony-walsh-sentenced-to-further-four-years-in-prison-over-indecent-assault-of-three-schoolboys-41858613.html|title=Paedophile 'singing priest' Tony Walsh sentenced to further four years in prison over indecent assault of three schoolboys|website=Independent.ie|date=21 July 2022 }}

It was reported in November 2024 that Walsh had been released.{{Cite news |date=28 Nov 2024 |title=Notorious paedophile 'singing priest' Tony Walsh back on the streets again after three decades behind bars |url=https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/dublin-news/notorious-paedophile-singing-priest-tony-30468248 |work=Dublin Live}}