Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Pervert priest caged for molesting girl,12
Maher is tracked down 50 years after the crime
A vile former Coatbridge priest who was exposed as a pervert when his victim confronted him 50 years after he molested her has been jailed for six months.
Sick Father Michael Maher preyed on the girl at her home in 1968 when she was only 12 and he was 25.
The horrendous abuse continued for four years, including at his parish house in Coatbridge.
Maher, 74, was close friends with the girl’s parents and regularly called at their Lanarkshire home.
The victim, who is now 62, kept her terrifying ordeal secret for decades but told her husband after Maher had conducted mass for her parents’ wedding anniversary.
She contacted the priest by email in 2016 and Maher, who was then at St Isidore’s in Biggar, confessed his guilt.
Maher, now of Stobo in Peeblesshire, appeared at Hamilton Sheriff Court last week and admitted lewd and indecent behaviour towards the girl between 1968 and 1972.
Sheriff Thomas Millar described Maher’s conduct as “abhorrent” and jailed him for six months.
Prosecutor Morag McClintock said of the victim: “She never got over the abuse and blamed it for ruining her childhood.”
Referring to her client, defence agent Lene Doherty said: “He is ashamed.
“He accepts full responsibility for his actions.”
The Diocese of Motherwell said they were informed of a police probe in September last year.
A spokesman added: “Father Maher stood down immediately while investigations were conducted.
“The Diocese of Motherwell will extend whatever help it can to all those involved.”