Former Catholic priest jailed for abusing children dies in prison

Paul Moore, a former Catholic priest who was jailed for sexually abusing three children and a student priest, has died in prison. He was 85. committed the crimes at various locations in Ayrshire between 1977 and 1996. One of his victims was just five years old.

He was jailed in March 2018 for nine years following a BBC investigation. At the time, sentencing judge Lady Rae told Moore he was guilty of despicable crimes. But his sentence was reduced to eight years in December 2018 by appeal court judges.

In November 2019, Moore was defrocked by the Pope. This meant he was no longer able to call himself “father” or offer spiritual care.

“Bishop Nolan will pray for the repose of the soul of Paul Moore and for the peace of those who suffered by his actions,” a spokesperson for the Diocese of Galloway said last night.

The BBC investigation discoveredthat moore had admitted in 1996 that he had abused more than one boy years earlimoore er, and it was initially covered up by the bishop. The then Bishop of Galloway, Maurice Taylor, did not contact the authorities about the priest’s confession until eight months later. He instead sent him to a treatment centre in Toronto.

Bishop Taylor later removed Moore from his parish in Prestwick, Ayrshire, and later sent him to Fort Augustus Abbey in the Highlands, which was run by Benedictine monks.

It was only when the victims came forward after the BBC documentary that the criminal case was brought.