Northern Ireland

Co Armagh priest accused of voyeurism found not guilty

Fr Aidan McCann
Fr Aidan McCann Fr Aidan McCann

A CO ARMAGH priest accused of voyeurism by spying on a woman in a changing room was found not guilty of the charge on 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 Fr Aidan McCann, who was ordained as a priest in 2015.

Fr McCann, (35) with an address at the parochial house on Maddens Row in Keady, had always denied the single charge of voyeurism, alleging that on 28 March 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 Moriarity, 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 Fr McCann being acquitted.