Keep up with Armagh i

Co Armagh priest acquitted of voyeurism charge

Father Aidan Patrick McCann

A Keady priest accused of voyeurism by spying on a woman in a changing room was found not guilty of the charge today (Wednesday).

Having heard evidence from the complainant, District Judge Bernie Kelly said she had “not been satisfied to the criminal standard” so she was dismissing the single count against Father Aidan McCann.

Fr. McCann, with an address at the parochial house on Madden Row in Keady, had always denied the single charge of voyeurism, alleging that on March 28 last year “for the purpose of sexual gratification, he observed a female doing a private act knowing that the other person did not consent to being observed for your sexual gratification”.

She gave evidence that she had been in a changing cubicle in Rushmere Shopping Centre when she saw her curtain twitch a number of times, leading her to take a video of the incident on her mobile phone.

During cross examination from defence counsel Andrew Moriarty, the court heard there were a number of inconsistencies between her initial police statement and the evidence and it was those inconsistencies that lead to Father McCann being acquitted.

Fr. McCann was ordained as a priest into the Armagh dioceses in July 2015.

Sign Up To Our Newsletter

Most read today

NEWRY – SHOP LOCAL

More in Craigavon