The catholic priest who is currently in custody on attempted sexual communication with a child charges has changed his legal representation.
58-year-old Edward Gallagher of Orchard Park in Lifford is charged with multiple offenses from April of this year.
Gallagher had been charged with one count of attempted sexual communication with a child on dates between April 2nd and April 17th, and seven further offences, including inciting a child to engage in sexual activity and causing a child to watch sexual activity on April 17th this year.
This is in addition to charges of possessing indecent images of children.
When his case was mentioned today, solicitor Derwin Harvey, now representing Gallagher, informed the court of this new representation.
He asked the court for an update on the case and was told that the case was still at ‘the investigation stage’ and was still ongoing.
Mr Harvey said that the defendant had been in custody for some seven months and had served the equivalent of a 14-month sentence, and the fact that the case was still at the investigation stage was of some concern.
He asked that the investigating officer be present at the next appearance to provide the court with an update.
District Judge Oonagh Mullan said that these were ‘extremely serious charges.’ However, the case could be reviewed in December.
It was adjourned until December 4th.
