The
cover-up of the incident began right after the report was made. The girl telephoned her
parents in Ireland, who got in touch with the Irish embassy in Nairobi who in turn
organized for her departure from the country. But Sister Owens told The Weekly
Vision through emails that she was informed of the incident two days after it
had happened, while other officers were already seized of the incident. Our
investigations indicate that the diocese was made aware on the night of the
16th, where an instruction was issued that the matter should be suppressed.
 | ||
| Pope Francis greets Muireann O'Carroll, 16, from Ireland , at the Vatican Photo by L'Osservatore Romano) |
The
Catholic Diocese of Kitui is at the centre of a sex scandal, with senior church
administrators accused of protecting a priest who has molested children under
his pastoral care. A priest, Rev. Fr. Cosmas Molu crossed the red line in April
when he molested a girl from Ireland who was on a volunteering mission in
Kenya.
The
priest was serving as the pastoral agent of Nyumbani Village in Kwa Vonza, a
children’s home in Kitui County that receives funding from several Western donor
organizations and the Government of Ireland. When the village received a report
on his attempted assault on a 19-year-old Irish girl (name withheld), it
immediately ejected him from the precincts of Nyumbani village and launched an
internal investigation, according to Sister Mary Owens, the executive director
of the village. The issue has not been reported to the Kenya Police Service, since
a police inquiry would open a can of worms.
The
priest lured the girl, who was volunteering at the centre to help the
underprivileged children there, through his sweet tongue; he offered to be her
main guide into life of the surrounding community. His itinerary included
taking the girl on walks and rides out of the centre, which in hindsight have
been seen as part of his orchestrated scheme to win her confidence before
abusing her. On April 16, he took the girl on a road trip out of the centre,
before suddenly beginning to touch and undress her. Disbelieving her
experience, the girl caused a scene, making noise to attention and fighting the
priest. She managed to escape from his grasp and took a motorcycle taxi (boda
boda) back to the centre, according to an insider’s report.
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| Rev. Fr. Cosmas Molu on the far right (seated) |
The
cover-up of the incident began right after the report was made. The girl telephoned her
parents in Ireland, who got in touch with the Irish embassy in Nairobi who in turn
organized for her departure from the country. But Sister Owens told The Weekly
Vision through emails that she was informed of the incident two days after it
had happened, while other officers were already seized of the incident. Our
investigations indicate that the diocese was made aware on the night of the
16th, where an instruction was issued that the matter should be suppressed.
Confidential
sources at the village and in Kitui Diocese informed this website that the
diocese has been silent for a long time over Rev.Fr. Mulu’s molestation of women
and children under his care and a long-running sexual affair. His conduct with
the Irish visiting volunteer confounded those in the church who believe that he
should have been expelled long ago. He is well known for his love of the bottle
too.
“The
priest has his way of charming his targets, and the young Irish girl fell for
him in the very way many have done in the past, only to rue their experience,”
said a worker at the centre who is aware of cases in which the priest and
others have been implicated. Contacted by this website, Rev. Fr. Molu offered to
travel to Nairobi, from Kitui, to meet our editor and give his side of the story,
only to cancel the planned meeting at the last minute. He complained of having
blood pressure and abruptly cancelled the meeting. He adamantly refused to
explain his side of the story after that failed meeting.
Sister
Owens, who informed this website about the centre’s employee and volunteer
policy manual, said that the volunteer had not sought permission to leave the
village with Fr Molu on the material day. “As per the Volunteer Handbook,
volunteers MUST OBTAIN authorization to leave the confines of the Village. This
rule is for their security and safety purposes. This was not done.”
Informed
sources told this website that a senior church administrator issued instructions
that the incident should never be reported to the police, despite the Irish
girl’s family’s wishes that the centre does so, to act as a deterrence for
similar conduct in future. It is believed that a police inquiry would cause a
chain reaction and expose the diocese to scandal, since several priests had
sexual cases that were being hushed by the administrators.
However,
Sister Owens, when confounded with a question about the centre’s challenges
with sexual abuse, rejected the claims, “We have had NO reports of incidences
of this kind in the past. The organizations policy has a system that PROTECTS
the children under our care and defines conduct in the work environment for
staff and visitors and has been effective thus far in ensuring a conducive work
environment for all.”
She,
however, could not explain why despite her strong reservations about the
conduct of the priest, which included her “[asking] him to leave the premises
and cease providing services to the Village,” she did not report the matter to
the police.
Some
members of staff at the Village also say that the Irish girl, who had a passion
for service in Africa, was advised by her parents and the embassy to leave the
country after realizing that the Village would not pursue an accountability
process. Sister Owens, however, insisted that she left the country voluntarily.
“In the course of investigations into the alleged inappropriate sexual conduct,
the female volunteer made the DECISION TO LEAVE Nyumbani Village on her OWN
volition and did not involve us in the plans to do so.”
In
fact, officials from the Irish embassy went to the centre to pick her up, and
they are the ones who eventually took her to the airport for her flight,
fearing that she would be harmed for reporting the conduct of a pedophile in an
institution that abhors accountability for such crimes. Rev. Fr. Cosmas Molu
has since been replaced at the children’s canter by Fr.Charles Matias.
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