A former prominent Catholic priest and theologian in New Zealand has been exposed as a self-confessed paedophile, said to have abused dozens of children for decades.
Michael Shirres, a priest who died in 1997 aged 68 of motor neurons disease, allegedly confessed to sexually abusing a young girl, Annie Hill, now 56, and is thought to have abused many other young victims throughout his career, NZME reports.
Shirres was a popular figure within Maori communities in the Far North of New Zealand where he regularly visited as a guest speaker during the 1970s. He established a Maori Theology Course at the University of Auckland in 1987, where he taught.
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But behind closed doors, Shirres allegedly confessed he was a paedophile, and was placed on a sex offender programme by the church after it received multiple complaints of sexual misconduct, NZME reports.
In 1994, Shirres was demoted from priest to brother after official abuse complaints were made, and he was put on the Safe Network programme, an organisation that provides specialised treatment services to those with harmful sexual behaviour.
Ms Hill, the victim who has spoken out, says the church had agreed to contribute to her counselling fees in the late 1990s after she officially made a complaint against Shirres.
The Whangarei-based woman says she received a written apology from the priest for sexually abusing her, after which she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. She was abused by Shirres when she was just five-years-old, according to NZME.
Ms Hill was subject to a non-disclosure agreement required as part of compensation from the Catholic Church, but she decided to speak out after it said such agreements often re-traumatise victims.
The woman has urged other victims of Shirres' sexual misconduct to come forward and get support.
Newshub.
