A PRIEST who sexually abused boys in Enniskerry has vanished without a trace since his release from prison in 2001, according to the findings of the 'Murphy Report.'

John Kinsella was jailed for sexual abuse against two brothers during his time as temporary replacement for the parish priest in Enniskerry between September 1973 to December 1973. He moved to work in his UK diocese in 1974. While there are a number of complaints of child sexual abuse against Kinsella he has been convicted in respect of the two boys. He served two years of an eight-year sentence.

The first complaint to the Archdiocese of Dublin was made in 1995 after an RTE radio programme and a Channel 4 programme. A man who had been abused in his childhood also made a complaint to the Gardai on behalf of himself and his brother.

Kinsella had befriended the boys' Dublin family then lured the children to Enniskerry where he forced them to sleep in his bed and sexually assaulted them.

A senior Irish churchman made efforts to track down the priest and located him in the UK. Monsignor Stenson invited Kinsella to meet him in Dublin with a solicitor. The meeting never took place.

The gardai carried out a comprehensive investigation and in February 1999, the paedophile was convicted on two counts of sexual assault on each of the brothers. He was sentenced to eight years in prison, five of those were suspended. He was released in May 2001 and disappeared.

Kinsella did not contact his bishop in the UK and was not required to report to the Gardai as the Sex Offenders Act 2001 had not come into force.

'It is a cause of concern that his current whereabouts are unknown,' read the report, published last Thursday. 'This is the case for many sex offenders.'

SEE PAGE 10 FORTY SIX PRIESTS were dealt with in the damning report of the Commission of Investigation with Wicklow children making up some of the sexual abuse victims who fell prey to members of the clergy. Only ten of the complaints of sexual abuse against the 46 priests were found to have been handled correctly by the archdiocese.

There is criticism of the way the reports of abuse were handled, such as Fr. Noel Reynolds while based in Glendalough, and Fr. Tom Naugton while he was a curate in Valleymount.

Fr. Frank McCarthy abused a young child while working in Dunlavin.

Meanwhile, allegations of abuse against one priest, who was given the pseudonym Fr. Edmondus, while he was a chaplain at Crumlin Hospital, were ignored.

Sixteen years later the same priest sexually assaulted a nine year-old girl while based in County Wicklow.