The priest wrongly accused by
Irish television of raping a teenager in Kenya and fathering her child
has revealed how he was advised not to take on the might of state
broadcaster RTE.
Fr
Kevin Reynolds has received over $1.5million in libel damages from the
Irish station after the false accusation were made earlier this year in
the Prime Time Investigates programme ‘Mission to Prey.’
The
priest, asked to stand down from his current parish work in Galway
while he fought the case, had to take a paternity test which proved
negative and take RTE to Dublin’s High Court before the station admitted
they were wrong.
Speaking to the Sunday Independent,
he said: "I feel very relieved it's all over. It has been an awful and
devastating experience. So, so, so distressing -- not only for me but
for my family and for my parish.
"I want to say now, I do not have any feelings of revenge or anger. I just want to get over this and on with my life.
"I
am not looking for blood. I'm not looking for any revenge. As a priest,
of course, whoever wrongs me, I will forgive them and I can say from
the bottom of my heart they are forgiven."
Reynolds
had offered to take a paternity test to prove he was not the father,
but the program went ahead and accused him anyway.: "Of course, it
tested my faith. It rattled me in every respect. Not only socially, but
also spiritually.
"But I knew from day
one I had a clear conscience; I knew it was not true. And my faith
remains intact as it was -- as strong as ever.
"The
worst day was signing a form to say that I would freely withdraw from
all public priestly ministries. That was very difficult.
"But
the lowest point of all was driving to Dublin alone on the eve of when
the programme was to be aired. Driving out of my priesthood, out of my
parish in a complete daze, wondering what on earth had happened. My
whole world had collapsed.
"That's an
experience I wouldn't like to relive. I didn't sleep that night and
there was no sleep for many, many nights after that."
He was seen laughing on the program when he was first accused.
"Mother of God, says I. Is there some truth that this is actually going to air?"
"Kenya
is the land of rumours and fabrications and allegations. But not one
person I contacted had ever heard that rumour or said there was any
truth in it."
"The morning after the
programme, I didn't want to be seen. I was afraid in case someone would
recognise me and take a pot shot at me. But I got over that pretty fast.
After a while I said, 'No, I have to face the world'."
"I
must say the second day after the programme was aired, I was in Galway
and I met with legal people who recommended that I go for a long holiday
and that I would be rather foolish to challenge the might of RTE. That
was a pretty low point but there was never a time that I was going to
give up.
"I must give it to the Association of Catholic Priests.
I got in contact with them and they put me in touch with solicitor
Robert Dore. And once he got the legal team moving on it, I became more
hopeful."
When the DNA tests confirmed
his innocence, Reynolds said: "Everyone was over the moon and
congratulations were coming in from all over the place, but it didn't
really excite me because I knew I could not have been the father of that
child.
"Somebody said to me, 'Now it's time for a mighty party' but I said, 'No. I just want to get all of this cleared up.'"
"There
will always be people with lingering suspicions and what can I do? I
have to live my life and I know tomorrow morning I will be able to stand
outside the door of St Cuan's Church in Ahascragh with confidence and
can finally stand tall again, thank God."
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