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U.S.

No bail for Irish priest accused of sex abuse

Associated Press
Published | Updated

SAN FRANCISCO – A federal judge has denied bail to a priest who is fighting extradition to his native Ireland where he's wanted on sex abuse charges.

Irish authorities accuse Patrick Joseph McCabe of molesting six boys from 1973 to 1981.

The San Francisco judge agreed Friday with prosecutors who argued that McCabe is a flight risk if freed.

McCabe also is the subject of several lawsuits by alleged victims in California. They accuse the Roman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa of allowing McCabe to serve as a priest in 1983 even though they knew of sex abuse allegations dating back to the 1970s.

McCabe's lawyer, Robert Beles, says his 74-year-old client denies the charges. Beles says bail was unjustly denied because of "hysteria" surrounding church sex abuse cases on both sides of the Atlantic.