December
08, 2012
Father
Tim Hopkins was interviewed under caution over allegations he sexually abused a
girl aged 11
Father
Tim Hopkins, 44, was interviewed under caution by detectives investigating
allegations a girl was molested on three occasions between 2004 and 2007. It is
understood he was not arrested.
He has
been suspended from his church duties by the Salford diocese as a 'neutral act'
while the police probe continues.
Fr
Hopkins remains a governor at St Bedes RC College in Whalley Range, Thomas More
RC College in Denton and St Mary's RC Primary.
Before
taking over as parish priest for the Haughton Green area of Denton in 2010, Fr
Hopkins had been priest at St Vincent's in Openshaw and St Brigid's in Beswick.
The
incidents are alleged to have taken place in Manchester, not Tameside, in
connection with Fr Hopkins' ministry.
A
spokesman for Greater Manchester Police said: “A 44-year-old man has been
interviewed by detectives investigating a report of sexual abuse."
Police
added the questioning related to alleged assaults between 2004 and 2007 when
the complainant was aged between 11 and 14, and that inquiries were ongoing.
8 comments:
I hope that if Fr Hopkins is found to be innocent that you give it the same amount of publicity. I note that you didn't in the case of Fr Hilton of Salford diocese who was falsely accused.
In fact, if 'Anonymous' takes the trouble to read the post at http://caads.blogspot.co.uk/2010/11/priest-is-arrested-on-child-sex-claim-9.html
he will find that in March 2011, I added the following
"UPDATE - 8:56am Monday 14th March 2011 Bolton News reported (http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/districtnews/districtatog/8907171.Parish_priest_will_not_face_child_abuse_trial/)
"The 54-year-old former policeman had been on bail since his arrest and was never charged with any offence. Following an investigation the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided on Friday to take no further action."
i.e. the arrest in November 2010 and the decision by the CPS in March 2011 to take no further action were given "the same amount of publicity"!
In view of subsequent revelations and conclusions reached regarding Jimmy Savile and Cyril Smith, we should be extremely wary of drawing any definitive conclusions from the fact that the CPS has at any point decided to take no further action. (In Savile's case, they made such a decision as recently as 2007.)
Observer - that is just silly. So a person is always to be presumed to be guilty until proven innocent? One coul equally point to Lord McAlpine and the damage that is done to a person when false accusations are made - he said it "eats at your soul".
Anonymous - To the best of my knowledge, the peer you mention has never been questioned by the police under caution nor had any case against him submitted to the CPS. Do you you have different information?
It is important to raise awareness of the evil and shamelessness of child abuse. But please always be aware with accusations that individuals are innocent until proven guilty. Also it would be good to cover the issue from a more wider perspective - I think abusers in families (where the majority of abuse happens) and in other non-Catholic institutions needs more coverage. We are not dealing here with a specific Catholic problem - though the media and the web give this impression much of the time - , but with a much wider one in society. Thank you.
Anonymous notes correctly that child sexual abuse is not confined to Roman Catholic institutions or to Roman Catholic clergy. However, the significant difference between the Roman Catholic Church and other human institutions is that the Church is the one which teaches teaches in its Catechism that it is ‘the ‘pillar and bulwark of truth” to
which ‘belongs the right always and everywhere to announce moral principles’
(Chapman, 1995, p. 440) and the only one which teaches that, ‘The sacrament of Holy Orders communicates a ‘sacred power’
which is none other than that of Christ’ (Chapman, 1995, p. 347). (see Chapman G. (1995). Catechism of the Catholic Church (Trans). Cassell: London.)
In England and Wales, it is also the institution whose bishops, in 2001, endorsed the recommendation made by the Nolan Committee that ‘The Catholic Church in England and Wales should become an example of best practice in the prevention of child abuse and in responding to it’.
Innocent - no action to be taken. Justice demands that you report this.
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