Thai orphanage priest refutes tabloid smear

Luke Coppen on allegations against a veteran opponent of sex tourism
A PRIEST WHO RESCUES Sexually abused orphans in Thailand has vehemently rejected allegations that he granted wealthy paedophiles access to boys in his care.
A leading British Sunday tabloid claimed to have exposed Fr Ray Brennan as "a disgrace who is prepared to let wealthy paedophiles meet his vulnerable boys".
The People alleged that the priest was failing to protect the hundreds of children sheltered by the Pattaya Orphanage in Pattaya, Thailand.
The newspaper printed the transcript of an alleged conversation between the priest and a reporter posing as a rich sex tourist, purportedly showing Fr Brennan "turning a blind eye to child molesters" who want to visit his centre.
But at a press conference last week, Fr Brennan categorically rejected the claims.
"I have never been involved in, or arranged any paedophilic rendezvous during my entire life. I condemn paedophiles totally," he said.
The Irish-American priest, who has preached at Westminster Cathedral, said the report was based largely on a one-hour conversation he had at a Pattaya hotel with a man called "Mr Merlin", who claimed to be a lottery winner and a prospective donor to the orphanage.
According to Fr Brennan, Mr Merlin had said in an email that he was a homosexual and intended to come to Pattaya personally to deliver more than £1.8 million to the orphanage trust.
"We discussed the paedophile situation in Pattaya. I was uncomfortable with this conversation. He took bits and pieces of our conversation and turned them to serve his own purpose," the 70-year-old priest said.
He said the children in his care were always under the supervision of a teacher when they went out with sponsors, unless the family was well known to the orphanage.
An army of chaperones would accompany the children in cases where donors admitted they were paedophiles.
The Pattaya Orphanage Trust, a London-based charity raising money for Fr Brennan's work, issued a statement condemning the tabloid report. It said: "Over 30 years, Fr Ray has created an orphanage, a school for the deaf, a school for the blind, a vocational school for disabled young people and a home for street children. In setting up these projects his overriding aim has been to provide an education to improve the quality of life for those in his care."
Andrew Scadding, the trust's chief executive, added: "Fr Brennan's devodon to the children in his care is beyond doubt. He has our complete confidence and support."
In the statement, the trust said it had taken legal advice against The People. But at last week's press conference, Fr Brennan said he did not intend to sue the newspaper.
Fr Banchong Chaiyara, who succeeded Fr Brennan as director of the Pattaya Orphanage three months ago, said the Church authorities had contacted him to discuss the report. But Fr Chaiyara said he did not expect any disciplinary action to be taken.
Thailand's The Nation newspaper reported that the country's tourist police were investigating the allegations against Fr Brennan and
would report back later this month.
Sudarat Sereewat, director of Fight Against Child Exploitation, said she believed Fr Brennan cared about children and would not expose orphans in his care to abuse.
The mayor of Pattaya, Pai rat Suttitamrongsawat, said he could confirm that none of the children at the orphanage had been abused.
Fr Brennan is not the first Catholic priest in South East Asia to be accused of aiding foreign paedophiles. Fr Shay Cullen, another vigorous opponent of sex tourism, has suffered several false accusations of abuse as a result of his work for children in the Phillipines.
He has led a successful campaign to change the law so that paedophiles who offend overseas can be prosecuted in their own countries. He was recently nominated for a Nobel prize for his work.
Fr Brennan founded the Pattaya Orphanage 30 years ago. It provides residential care and education for 180 orphans, up to 100 street children, 220 deaf or blind children and 200 disabled young people.