A former priest who sexually abused a young woman as he drove her to the Rape Crisis Centre has refused to apologise when confronted by this paper.
Pervert Joe Dunne (81) indecently assaulted a previously abused young woman on a number of occasions after befriending her in hospital.
But last Friday the depraved beast avoided a four year jail sentence imposed upon him - because the court heard he was the sole carer for his elderly sister, and the presiding judge ruled it would be unfair on her for him to be imprisoned.
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This paper today tracked down Dunne at his bungalow in Ballycrystal, Geashill, Co Offaly - where he refused to engage with us telling us: “I don’t care.”
Holding a bottle of milk after feeding cats in his driveway, Dunne initially greeted this reporter until he realised who we were and uttered: “I don’t care. I don’t want to hear anything.
“Honest to God I don’t want to hear about papers.
“I don’t want to hear anything. Just straightforward, I don't want to hear anything.”
Asked if he had any apology he wanted to make to his victim he responded: “No, no, no. I don’t want to hear anything. Now is that clear? So good luck.”
Pressed one more time for comment Dunne shouted: “Look it, if you don’t move I’ll ring the guards.”
We then left the vicinity of his home- which is located just outside the small Offaly town of Geashill, where he has presided for a number of years.
During his case last Friday, the victim outlined how meeting Dunne when she was a young woman in a highly vulnerable situation had started “34 years of hell”.
The court heard how she thought she would be safe in confiding in Dunne because he was a priest.
Dunne pleaded guilty to five counts of indecent assault of the woman which occurred in 1989.
The court heard the case had come to light as a result of a separate investigation in 2019 when gardaí came across letters the injured party had written to her bishop about Dunne years earlier.
Gardaí then approached the woman and she disclosed to them what had occurred.
Mr Justice Paul McDermott commended the courage of the woman in coming forward - and said that the circumstances of the case were extremely aggravating.
The judge said that Dunne had got himself into a position where he could sexually assault an abused woman.
“That’s shocking,” said the judge.
He said it was clear from the nature of the assaults that they were carried out on a young woman in a most vulnerable position and who Dunne knew to be in a vulnerable position after she turned to him for support at a difficult time.
He also said he was obliged to take Dunne’s guilty plea into account but said it appeared from some material presented to court that he does not have full appreciation of the damage done.
He said he also had to take into account the effect imprisoning Dunne would have on his 94-year-old sister for whom Dunne is the sole carer.
He said the report before him in that regard was “stark.”
He said the woman would be in very serious circumstances if deprived of his support and said the court was faced with a dilemma.
The judge said he would therefore take the “unusual and exceptional step”
of suspending the entire sentence because of the disproportionate effect it would have on Dunne's sister.
But he said that this was not something easily done on his part.
Mr Justice McDermott suspended the entirety of the four year sentence on strict conditions including that Dunne attend with the Probation Service and undertake offence focused work.
Garda Darren Hughes told Conor Devally SC, prosecuting, that the woman had previously been abused by another person and spent some time in hospital as she found it difficult to get over.
Dunne had befriended her in the hospital while aware she was highly vulnerable.
She was due to attend counselling which was difficult for her to access due to her rural location and Dunne offered to drive her to the Rape Crisis Centre.
During several trips to the Rape Crisis Centre, Dunne indecently assaulted the young woman.
The victim was shocked and thought no one would believe this behaviour of a priest so found it hard to reveal what was happening to her.
She eventually prevailed on her family to keep Dunne away and made alternative arrangements.
Dunne approached the young woman and sought her forgiveness.
She felt she had no choice but to forgive him and that it would be a sin not to do so.
He prevailed on her to take a trip with him and again assaulted her in the car.
Dunne emigrated for some time and was in ministry in Scotland but the woman observed on his return that he was filling in to say masses and funerals so at this stage she wrote to her bishop.
The court heard “little or nothing” was done at that stage to make Dunne “amenable to the law.”
Dunne was arrested and interviewed during the later investigation after her letters came to light in 2019.
Dunne, who has been removed from ministry, made limited admissions at that stage, but entered a guilty plea to the indecent assaults prior to a trial date.
In her victim impact statement she said meeting Dunne had started 34 years of hell.
She said she had been very low and told him what was wrong.
He then insisted on bringing her to counselling but used these trips to abuse her. She said she had felt she would be safe with him as he was a priest.
She outlined the devastating effects the abuse has had on her life in relation to relationships, her mental health and employment. She feels she will grow old on her own as she can not trust anyone.
“I hope he will understand how he destroyed me,” she told the court in her statement.
She thanked her counsellor and all those who had supported her.
Dunne was previously accused of inappropriate behaviour towards young girls and was reportedly sacked from his then Glasgow parish in 1988.
In 2019 he was approached by the Sunday Post newspaper about those original accusations but insisted he had “done nothing wrong,” and that his “conscience is clear.”
Asked about the allegations against him, the 77-year-old denied any wrong-doing, saying: “I’ve done nothing wrong. My conscience is clear.”
According to that report Dunne moved on to a new parish in Los Angeles,
where he was further accused.
He was reportedly investigated over those accusations by police in LA - but never charged.
He then returned to Glasgow where he was told never again to work as a priest.
Dunne told the paper that he “got the all clear from Scotland and America”
in relation to those accusations.
The Archdiocese of Glasgow told the publication: “Father Joseph Dunne has been forbidden from exercising priestly ministry since 1988. He has been reminded of this repeatedly.”
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