A 76-year-old religious brother who has admitted nearly 80 charges of indecent assault against young boys dating back half a century, today deferred a bid to suspend the balance of a 36-year jail term he is already serving for sex abuse.
James Kelly, also known as Brother Ambrose, pleaded guilty to 77 indecency counts against boys aged between 10 and 15 years in the 1950s and 1960s when he appeared yesterday at Cork Circuit Court, and was remanded for sentence.
Today Kelly applied for the hearing of an application for him to be moved to Belgium to be adjourned.
Kelly was jailed for 36 years - the longest sentence ever imposed for sex abuse offences in the State - in 1999.
He had pleaded guilty to 18 sample charges of indecent assault against three boys in the 1950s and 1960s.
Last year, though, the balance of the term was controversially suspended by the court on condition that he moved to Britain to be cared for by members of his former Brothers of Charity order.
But the order then failed to find a suitable British home for Kelly, and a legal move began to have him moved to Belgium instead, a development that angered Kelly's victims and concerned the authorities in Brussels.
Cork Circuit Court had been due to rule on the issue today, but at Kelly's request, the proceedings were adjourned.
Kelly, who was arrested yesterday after a 12-month-long police investigation into the new charges he faces, worked at a home for orphans and boys with learning difficulties at the time of the alleged offences.