A former secondary school teacher found guilty of indecently assaulting a 13-year-old pupil nearly 40 years ago does not accept the verdicts of the jury, a court has heard.
Jacintha McSherry O'Connor (63), of the Mullins, Donegal Town, Co Donegal, was found guilty of two counts of indecently assaulting a male student in 1985 following a Dublin Circuit Criminal Court trial in October.
The court heard the abuse occurred while McSherry O'Connor worked as a student teacher at a Dublin secondary school.
The court heard she indecently assaulted the boy on two occasions in his home on dates between June 1st and September 1st, 1985, while giving him grinds. She was 24 at the time and the boy was 13.
In a victim impact statement handed in to the court on Friday, the complainant, now in his 50s, said McSherry O'Connor “has been like a spectre hanging over me my whole life”.
He said she “took my innocence away” and that what happened was “deeply and morally wrong”.
He said he “tore up every photo of her, or anything that reminded me of her”, and “perhaps now she may have an idea of how I suffered”.
“The truth was close to never coming out, just left festering there in the back of my mind,” he said, adding that he was glad he spoke out.
Family holiday
The four-day trial also heard allegations of inappropriate sexual relations between McSherry O'Connor and the boy on a holiday she attended with his family in Spain in the run-up to the alleged offences.
No charges were before the jury in relation to these alleged incidents as they pertained to a different jurisdiction.
The complainant in the case told the court that seeing his own children reach the age he was at the time of the incidents spurred him to go to gardaí, along with other unrelated high-profile cases.
He said he was also concerned to see McSherry O'Connor was still teaching in Donegal.
The trial heard that while giving the boy grinds at his home, McSherry O'Connor started having inappropriate conversations with him about music that made her “horny”, and discussing things of a sexual nature. He also visited her regularly in the home where she lived with her parents.
The prosecution alleged this was a form of “grooming” on the part of McSherry O'Connor and that the complainant was “drawn in” as a result, and was “infatuated” with his teacher.
The court heard McSherry O'Connor and a friend of hers accompanied the boy and his family on a holiday to Spain the summer he finished first year after getting a cheap deal. The two young women stayed in a separate apartment in the complex, the court heard.
The complainant told the trial that it was on this holiday that the first sexual encounters occurred. He said McSherry O'Connor rubbed her breasts against him at the pool, fondled him, and later performed oral sex on him in her apartment.
He said she also gave him alcohol, which was the first time he got drunk.
Last contact
After the holiday, the court was told of two further indecent assault incidents that occurred in the boy's home – in the sitting room and in the attic.
The complainant said that although he initially felt like a “big man”, he became uncomfortable about his interactions with the teacher and told her he did not want to see her anymore.
She had finished her work experience at the school by then, and neither of them have had contact with each other since 1985, the court heard.
Marc Thompson BL, defending, described the case as “highly unusual”, and said his client does not accept the verdict. He added the result of the trial had a “significant impact” on her.
He said there were “levels of depravity” and that McSherry O'Connor had used no violence, not recorded the indecent assaults and had not publicised them.
Mr Thompson told the court McSherry O'Connor had been the victim of a sexual assault while working as a junior teacher. She did not make a complainant to the gardaí at the time.
The perpetrator was a senior teacher and was later convicted of sexual assault against someone else, the court heard.
He handed in a booklet containing almost 40 references for McSherry O'Connor. He said it included testimonials from teachers who knew his client personally or professionally and “find it hard to reconcile the verdict with the person they know”.
Mr Thompson told the court McSherry O'Connor's husband “finds it hard to reconcile that the person he knew at the time could have committed these offences”. Her husband also does not accept the jury's verdict, he added.
He said McSherry O'Connor's imprisonment will have a significant impact on her mother, who is elderly, asking the court to be as lenient as possible.
The maximum sentence for indecent assault is two years imprisonment.
Judge Elma Sheahan adjourned the case for finalisation on January 11th, 2024.
If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help.
