Vicarious liability for sex abuse

Maga v Trustees of the Birmingham Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church [2010] EWCA Civ 256, [2010] All ER (D) 141 (Mar); NLJ 4 June p790

The claimant, who was not a Roman Catholic, became friends with a paedophile priest, Father Clonan, who invited him to a church disco and paid him to do various jobs in connection with the church and other work unrelated to church activities. The claimant was sexually abused by Clonan, including in the presbytery. The priest’s duty to evangelise, which involved befriending non-Catholics and gaining their trust gave rise to the defendant’s vicarious liability for the sexual abuse of the claimant. In his judgment Longmore LJ said:‘For centuries the Church has encouraged lay persons to look up to (and indeed revere) their priests. The Church clothed them in clerical garb and conferred on them the title “Father”, a title which Father Clonan was happy to use. It is difficult to think of a role nearer to that of a parent than that of a priest. In this circumstance the absence of any formal legal responsibility is almost beside the point.’