Description
A Catholic priest let altar boys smoke cannabis and drink alcohol so he could sexually abuse them.
One of Father Thomas MacCarte's victims thought the priest was "cool" for letting them hang out in his room.
But there was "another side" to MacCarte, who preyed on children at Bishop Eton Monastery in Woolton Road, Childwall.
Liverpool Crown Court heard the pervert made one teenage boy watch gay porn, before twice performing a sex act on him.
However, when one victim's dad complained about MacCarte to the church, the priest was simply moved away to Scotland.
MacCarte, now 70 and of St Mary's Monastery, Hatton Road, Perth, denied five counts of indecent assault.
A six-day trial heard how MacCarte was born in Glasgow and in the 1980s and early 1990s lived and worked at Bishop Eton.
Robert Wyn Jones, prosecuting, said it was there he met the two altar boys - Boy A and Boy B.
Mr Wyn Jones said MacCarte "drank too much" and sometimes walked home to the monastery drunk.
The court heard Boy A had thought MacCarte was "cool" and said he didn't lecture boys about sex or lust.
Mr Wyn Jones said he also let Boy A and some of his friends visit his accommodation in the monastery to smoke cannabis and drink alcohol there.
However, he said: "There was another side to Father MacCarte. He was very tactile. He would stroke his hair in a way that was far too affectionate. He would talk about sex and mutual masturbation."
The court heard one time Boy A helped MacCarte get home after the priest had drunk too much.
Mr Wyn Jones said: "They were walking along Woolton Road, which has a few houses overlooking it at that point. It was pretty deserted.
"Father MacCarte was wearing a cassock and he grabbed Boy A by the head and forced his head under his cassock to the area of his penis.
"He was clothed but Boy A remembers smelling the stale urine and pulled his head away."
The jury heard when Boy A visited MacCarte in his room, the priest would question him about masturbation, saying "I bet you do it".
Mr Wyn Jones said: "He remembers Father MacCarte would urinate in the sink in his room and wave his penis about when he had finished."
He said MacCarte would also give Boy A money.
The court heard Boy B turned to Father MacCarte for support when he was undergoing psychological problems and drinking heavily.
Mr Wyn Jones said MacCarte "spoke kindly to him and gave him alcohol", just as he had Boy A.
He said: "Father MacCarte would show him pornography while he was drunk, in particular gay pornography.
"Boy B recalls while he was drunk Father MacCarte took Boy B's lower clothing off and performed oral sex upon him."
The court heard he did this twice and MacCarte wanted Boy B to do the same to him, but that didn't happen.
Mr Wyn Jones said: "This was happening to Boy B when he was vulnerable and needed support.
"It only came to an end when Father MacCarte was sent away by the church."
The court heard that happened after Boy B told his dad "sexual things" had happened with the priest.
The jury was told the boy's dad complained to Bishop Eton, then the parish priest.
Mr Wyn Jones said: "It was agreed that the matter would be dealt with by the church internally and Father MacCarte was moved away to Scotland with the promise that he would be sent on a course.
"These things were dealt with rather differently back then."
The court heard the abuse took its toll on Boy A, who received counselling but "has always struggled to come to terms with it".
Mr Wyn Jones said Boy A had discussed what happened to him with various people and one night, after a discussion with a friend about sexual abuse within the Catholic Church, became upset.
This led to Boy B learning that Boy A had been abused by MacCarte, having "thought it was just him".
Both victims went to the police and reported what happened to them in 2019.
When arrested and interviewed, MacCarte agreed he had worked at the church and told police he recalled the two boys.
However, he denied sexually abusing them and said he couldn't remember why he had been moved from Liverpool to Perth.
MacCarte told the jury the incidents hadn't happened and his victims weren't telling the truth.
However, jurors heard evidence from Boy B's dad and from his mum about the complaint the dad made and how the church reacted to it at the time.
They also heard evidence from a friend of Boy A, who said years previously Boy A confided in him that he had been abused by a priest at Bishop Eton.
The jury also heard from a friend of Boy B, who recalled how Boy B was very confused about MacCarte's behaviour, so he agreed to go with him to the priest's accommodation.
This witness described how MacCarte sat too close to him and stroked his hair, which made him feel uncomfortable, so he told the priest to stop and he and Boy B left.
MacCarte was found guilty of three counts of indecent assault by a majority of 11-1 and acquitted of two further counts of indecent assault.
Judge Gary Woodhall remanded him on bail until his sentencing next month.
A previous version of this article repeated an error, made in court, about the precise circumstances in which a complaint about MacCarte was made to the parish priest.