Having met the young Catholic priest through a gay dating app the middle-aged man claims to have been sexually assaulted on church property

A middle-aged man who met a young Catholic priest through a gay dating app claims to have been sexually assaulted on Catholic church property after arranging to meet one another.

The man claims to have visited the young priest at a presbytery in 2015, choosing to stay the night there.

Later, having left to go to bed early, he claims to have been awoken by the cleric who went on to assault him sexually.

Dating Profile

In the priest’s dating profile which has since been taken offline, he described himself as ‘versatile’ in relation to his preferred sexual position, and indicated that he enjoys “no-strings-attached” sex “every now and then.”

The cleric also noted that he had a preference for older men, between 50 and 90 years of age.

An inside source within the Catholic church told the Irish Independent that the young priest in question “is not suitable for priesthood,” and they also expressed concern that he “may do this (sexual assault) again in the future”.

Investigation

The Independent also reported that Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has been informed of the allegations against the young Catholic cleric, as has the Gardaí’s sexual assault unit.

However, the Gardaí are unable to investigate until a victim comes forward to them, which has not happened yet as the alleged victim is afraid that doing so may reveal his sexuality.

The middle-aged man has been described as a rural-based professional.

He claims to have attempted confronting the young priest about the alleged sexual assault, after which the alleged victim received aggressive messages from him.

The Catholic church inside source revealed that he had informed Dr Martin of the alleged assault by email earlier this month, forwarding on a sexually explicit image and facial picture of the young cleric which he had emailed to the alleged victim.