The 76-year-old Brother of Charity who was jailed for 36 years for sexually abusing young boys in his care in the 1950s and 1960s is to be freed from prison next week. He will be placed in an institution, the name of which will not be released.
Brother John O'Shea, the Irish Superior of the Brothers of Charity Order, said that the publicity surrounding the case had made it almost impossible for the order to transfer James Kelly.
James Kelly, otherwise known as Brother Ambrose, was sentenced to 36 years' imprisonment in 1999 at Cork Circuit Criminal Court, having pleaded guilty to 18 sample counts of abusing children in the Lota institution in the city.
He abused numerous young boys in his care in Cork, Galway and in Britain by forcing them to perform sexual acts on him.
In Cork Circuit Criminal Court yesterday, Judge Patrick Moran told a number of Kelly's victims that the Brother is to be housed in a place where he would not be in a position to reoffend.
"Brother O'Shea has given me the name of the institution and I am happy that it is the appropriate place for him. There may be some concern about why it wasn't named in court. I can assure the victims that it is a safe place."
The judge said that the the management at the institution were entitled to privacy and that was why he had directed that Brother O'Shea write the name on a piece of paper to be handed in to the court.
The court heard that Kelly is to be freed on November 23rd and will live out the rest of his days in the unnamed institution.
His behaviour came to light following an extensive Garda investigation on foot of complaints from victims.
It had originally been the intention of Judge A.G. Murphy in Cork that Kelly's 36-year sentence would be reviewed after 18 months and that he would be sent to a suitable safe place run by the Brothers of Charity in England.
However, no such place could be found because of publicity generated by the case. The lobbying of victims' rights groups resulted in the authorities in Britain and then Belgium signalling that Kelly was not wanted in their countries.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court was told yesterday that an institution in this State was prepared to take in the convicted paedophile for a few months.
Defence counsel Mr Kevin Cross SC said that Kelly would receive therapy and counselling at this institution before being transferred to another unnamed location.
Brother O'Shea promised to notify the authorities of any change of address for Kelly and said that the Brothers of Charity were prepared to pay any costs for his care.
He also said that the Brothers of Charity would pay any travel expenses for Kelly's appearance before the Laffoy Commission into sexual abuse.
In his summing-up, Judge Moran said that various sentences handed down to Kelly had been appealed at the Court of Criminal Appeal and were deemed appropriate.
Last March, Kelly was jailed for five years after 77 additional charges of sexual assault were made against him. However, Judge Moran suspended the last four years of the sentence in light of the cleric's poor health and age.
Earlier this month, the court dismissed an application by the DPP to increase the prison sentence imposed on Kelly on the grounds that it was unduly lenient.
On that occasion, Mr Justice Geoghegan, presiding, said that the court could not find any error in principle in the suspension of four years of the five-year sentence. He said there was no suggestion that James Kelly had committed sexual offences since 1974, when he is said to have made a resolution to stop assaulting boys in his care.