A Christian Brother who sexually abused six young boys he was teaching over 40 years ago has been jailed for a further six-and-a-half years.
The 72-year-old man was convicted last March on a total of 25 charges of indecent assault in relation to the six victims on dates between 1976 and 1981 at a primary school in Co Kilkenny.
He had previously pleaded not guilty to 32 charges and the jury were directed to return verdicts of not guilty by direction of the trial judge on seven of those charges.
This was the man's fourth trial at the Circuit Criminal Court in relation to the sexual abuse of other child victims. The previous three trials led to a total of 55 convictions and the man had been due for release in October 2027. The sentence handed down this week means he is now due for release in September 2030.
The court heard he does not accept the verdicts of the jury. The man has similar matters pending before the courts.
Judge Elva Duffy said the man had caused considerable distress to each of the six men who were, at the time of the offending, young children in his care.
She said he had “callously” isolated victims whom he considered to be less advantaged in either their academics or who had what he thought of as having “lower circumstances in life” without “ongoing support”.
Judge Duffy spoke about how the trial process impacted on the men “in bringing it (the abuse) back” and that they have struggled since.
“The court was struck with the dignity and sadness they had as they gave their evidence,” Judge Duffy said, noting that their lives had been changed fundamentally.
She said the man maintains and continues to maintain a denial of any wrongdoing and noted that he has 55 previous convictions stemming from three previous trials.
Judge Duffy acknowledged that the man co-operated with the Garda investigation and returned from abroad to face the allegations.
She sentenced the man to consecutive sentences totalling six-and-a-half years, which was backdated to when he was convicted on these current charges last March.
Classroom abuse
At an earlier sentence hearing, Sergeant James Neary told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that each of the men later made statements to gardaí outlining the abuse they suffered, most of which occurred in the man’s classroom, often during lessons with other children present.
The first complainant was in sixth class when the accused came behind him in the classroom, put his hands down the back of his trousers and touched his bottom.
He recalled getting a belt to tighten his trousers so that the man would not be in a position to touch him in this way.
This man told gardaí that he once put thumb tacks in the pockets of his trousers and when the man went to abuse him again he withdrew his hands and had thumb tacks stuck in his fingers. He was not molested by the man again.
The second man said he was instructed to come to the top of the class to write on the board. He said he was molested by the man while at the blackboard and on another occasion at the teacher’s desk.
This man told gardaí that the teacher “seemed to pick on the quieter lads in the class”.
The third man said his mother was working full time and there was not usually an adult in the house when he came home from school. He told gardaí the accused man was aware of this and said “he seemed to gather information about our situations”.
He recalled being kept back after school because his homework was not done correctly. He was told to stand in front of a window and focus on looking out of the bottom of the window. The boy was instructed not to move before his trousers were pulled down. He was then molested by the man.
This man told gardaí that it “felt like an eternity” and described tears coming down his face, but the man did not seem to care.
He said he was regularly kept back after school on the pretence of improving his maths and English.
This man also recalled being molested at the front of the classroom in such a way that the other children would not be able to see what the teacher was doing.
The fourth man had been involved in a fundraiser for the school, but instead of handing up the money he had collected for selling lines, he spent the money he raised on sweets. When it was discovered what he had done, he was told to report to the accused man.
He said he was “quizzed about the money” and the accused molested him after putting his hands down the boy’s trousers. He said a similar incident of abuse occurred a second time in the same circumstances.
A fifth man said he was sexually abused in the school yard when the man touched him outside his clothing.
A sixth man outlined multiple incidences of sexual abuse to gardaí. He said he was molested after being called up to the man’s desk and the man would put his hands down his trousers and touch him under his underwear.
I didn’t understand what was going on, but I knew it was wrong.
Each of the men prepared victim impact statements in the case.
They recalled their mental health suffering as a result and spoke of how the court case “brought it all back”. One man said he would not wish the abuse he suffered on anyone and said it was his intention “to get help soon and try and put all this behind me”.
Another man spoke of how he developed a speech impediment because of the abuse and at the time the thought of going to school filled him with fear. “I didn’t understand what was going on, but I knew it was wrong,” he said.
This man said he lost out on the “quality of life I should have had. I stand here today and I am glad I came forward and speak out about what was needed to be said when I was a young boy”.
Another man said he had been ashamed that he had been assaulted in the classroom and was concerned that the rest of the class had been looking at him. He said the anxious feelings he had then never left him. His education suffered as a result of the abuse and he failed his maths and English leaving certificate exams.
He said he now works as a truck driver and sometimes has to pull over the vehicle when he recalls the abuse as he gets overwhelmed and breaks down sobbing. He said it is affecting his ability to earn a living.
Another man said he struggled with outbursts of aggressive behaviour to black out the suffering, “when all I wanted was an education”. His mother died when he was young and he said he did not have her to turn to then.
He spoke of turning to alcohol “to numb the pain” when the memories of the abuse would raise its “ugly head”. He said he is now the father of six “beautiful children” and has been married for 27 years. He said he has “finally found the meaning of life”.
Another man said he could not work as a result of depression and has been on medication all his life.
“I could never tell doctors why I was tormented inside,” he said, as he hid this “deep dark secret”.
He said he wished he had disclosed the abuse years ago but he was only a child and could not speak about the “disgusting things” that were done to him. He described nightmares and bedwetting as a child and teenager.
He spoke of how he drank a bottle of vodka neat as a 14-year-old boy but could not tell his father why he had done that. He said the accused often told him he was useless and there would be no place for him in the secondary school. He never got his Leaving Certificate, the court heard.
“I had no education. I could never form a good relationship with any girl. He ruined my life and I am never going to forget the pain and suffering he did to me,” the man concluded his victim impact statement.
In his plea of mitigation, Ronan Kennedy SC, defending, said his client is now 72 and cooperated fully with the investigation. He said the man went on to work in a number of other schools in his career and has also worked in other areas, including in the Christian Brother missions abroad.
He said the man entered the Christian Brothers as a teenager. He is now serving a six and a half year sentence and his earliest release date is October 2027. He has suffered depression in recent years and has other health issues, the court heard.
He urged the court to be as lenient as possible.
