by Mark Cowan, Birmingham Post
A judge in California has agreed to the extradition of a former Midland priest over allegations of child sex abuse more than two decades ago.
Fr James Robinson, who worked across Birmingham, the Black Country, Sutton Coldfield and Coventry in the 70s and 80s, was arrested by US marshals in the city of Duarte, in Los Angeles County on January 26.
The US authorities were acting on a request from police and prosecutors in the West Midlands to extradite the 71-year-old back to the UK in relation to “historic sexual offence allegations”.
West Midlands Police said that a magistrate judge in Los Angeles has agreed to the extradition order “on all counts”.
It is hoped he will be brought back to the UK within the next two months.
However, he does have the opportunity to fight the extradition order and could launch a legal appeal that could hinder the process.
Robinson moved to the US in 1985, amid allegations he abused boys while training at Oscott College, Sutton Coldfield, as parish priest at St Elizabeth’s in Foleshill, and then at the Our Lady of Lourdes Church, in Cradley Heath.
He was defrocked eight years later after the then Archbishop of Birmingham, the Most Rev Maurice Couve de Murville, wrote to US church leaders.
Five people from Coventry and Birmingham have previously complained to police about Robinson. At least two men from Coventry have claimed they were sexually abused as boys by him.
They were later given compensation by the archdiocese of about £25,000.
They have now been told of the extradition breakthrough.
A police spokesman said: “This extradition order means that the paperwork will now be completed ready for his return to the UK.
“It is anticipated that this will be within a two-month framework. He still has the opportunity of appeal.
“West Midlands Police have spoken with those who have made allegations as part of this investigation and we will continue to update them as the extradition progresses.”
At the time of his arrest, the Los Angeles Times reported that the warrant filed in federal court in Los Angeles stated that the charges stemmed from “a chain of sexual abuse starting in approximately 1959 and continuing for decades, even after Robinson was ordained as a priest in 1971”.
In 2003, Robinson was found working as the caretaker of a trailer park in Los Angeles.
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