The President of the High Court has formally confirmed a recommendation that a former secondary school teacher who groomed and sexually exploited a 13-year-old girl be struck off the teaching register for 30 years.
The sanction was formally approved by High Court President Ms Justice Mary Irvine on Tuesday following an application to the court by the Teaching Council.
Cian Cooney, of Ballymahon, Co Longford, is currently serving a five-year jail sentence for the offences. He previously worked as a PE and geography teacher at a south Dublin secondary school.
Ms Justice Irvine said she is acutely aware that the 30-year sanction is the most severe provided for under section 44 of the Teaching Council Act, but she could not see how any lesser sanction would be appropriate.
Deterrent
Neither would a less severe response serve as an effective deterrent to any teacher considering engaging in “heinous conduct” of the type carried out by Cooney, she said. Cooney’s wrongdoing “could hardly have been more egregious”, she added.
He started to groom a barely adolescent child and subjected her to extreme sexual abuse over a considerable period of time, she noted.
The panel viewed Cooney’s wrongdoing to be at the “very highest end of the spectrum of wrongdoing”, the judge said.
Ms Justice Irvine said it is clear the protection of children and the public were of “paramount importance” when the disciplinary committee panel decided on the sanction.
In its report, the panel stressed that it is “vital” that the reprimand should help to maintain public trust and confidence in teachers and the teaching profession, she said.
Cooney was sentenced to six years and six months in prison, with the final 18 months suspended, at Longford Circuit Court in February 2021.
He had pleaded guilty to charges of sexual exploitation and having sex with a child under the age of 15 on several occasions.
The court heard that Cooney groomed the girl, who was not one of his students, by sending her a friend request under an alias on Facebook during the summer of 2013.
When they later met, he told her he was 18 but was in fact 28 at the time. The meetings stopped at the end of 2013, but he resumed contact again in 2015.
His real identity was eventually revealed by the girl and her parents using social media.
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.
In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.
