Protestant Child Abuse

Child abuse within the Protestant Church

Surveys in 2002 by the Christian Ministry Resources (CMR), who serve more than 75,000 congregrations and 1,000 denominational agencies nationwide show high levels of child abuse, mostly from church volunteers and members of staff rather than the actual clergy themselves.. Another unsettling statistic taken from Christian Science Monitor .

Kincora Boys Home

Another high profile case in Northern Ireland involving loyalist (protestant) child abuse is the Kincora Boys Home scandal.

This case is probably unique, in that there was a child abuse cover up by the British Goverment Agency MI5 to protect two informers they had within the loyalist community. The paedophiles William McGrath housemaster of Kincora Boys Home, a prominent orangeman and leader of a loyalist paramilitary group named Tara and his fellow abuser leader of the Red Hand Commando loyalist paramilitary group John McKeague operated a paedophile ring with full knowledge of their controllers at MI5. The British Goverment became aware of McKeague's deviances for young boys and through MI5 blackmailed him into becoming an informer. It was through McKeague's links with other loyalist paramilitary paedophiles, in particular McGrath that he became aware of the sex abuse at the Kincora Boys Home. Since 1980 there have been six inquiries into the Kincora Boys Home scandal.

In 1982, McKeague was shot dead by the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army) just as he was about to go public about the role of MI5 in blackmailing paedophiles in Northern Ireland, which led to speculation he had been "set up" by MI5. After McGraths activities came to light, he was allowed to retire into the loyalist community in East Belfast. No loyalist paramilitary groups took any action against him.

Further Reading: The Kincora Scandal: Political Cover-up and Intrigue in Northern Ireland. by Chris Moore

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