'Evil has been exposed': Limerick teacher to be sentenced for sexually abusing students

A TEACHER who committed a number of counts of indecent sexual assault on two children while they attended a secondary school in Limerick is due to be sentenced in March.

Limerick Circuit Court heard that the abuse occurred in the early 1980s, and began when the students were aged 12 and 13 respectively.

The perpetrator - who is now elderly - cannot be named or identified due to court-mandated reporting restrictions.

Barrister John O’Sullivan, acting for the state, told the court that the teacher forced the boys to masturbate him.

The defendant has been found guilty by a jury of attempting to put his penis in between one of the boy's buttocks. In the case of the other victim, the man has been found guilty of forcing a kiss on the victim while he was at school.

These two respective instances make up two of the seven charges that the man is guilty of - namely indecent assault.

The man employed both boys to do odd jobs for him outside of school hours. Mr O’Sullivan stated that “at one point the victim was getting more money from the accused for doing these jobs than his father was receiving on the dole”.

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The court heard that both men came forward independently of each other regarding the abuse they experienced at the hands of the perpetrator. Both men read their victim impact statements to the court.

The first victim called the accused a “persevering predatory paedophile” and told the judge “I believe leniency should not be afforded to the perpetrator”.

He detailed that he “spent decades trying to heal myself” and he is “overprotective of his own children” in the aftermath of the abuse.

The second victim cried throughout court proceedings. The man addressed the perpetrator directly, saying that he was “an innocent 13 year old boy” when he was abused, and that the teacher “used me for your own sexual gratification”.

The victim told the abuser “your evil has been exposed”, and said “you refuse to accept responsibility” by putting him “through trial”.

“Every day I battle with the demons of your abuse”.

“The effects of it have followed me for my entire personal life,” he continued. “I’m finally free from your clutches and I can finally live free, with my head held high.”

In mitigation, Barrister Mark Nicholas, defending the accused man, said the former teacher has lived a long life, and has no previous convictions.

Mr Nicholas said there is no charge of attempted rape, and that there wasn't a threat of violence associated with the crimes. He said the accused accepts that there was a “significant breach of trust”.

The victims have communicated to the court that they wish for naming restrictions for the perpetrator to be removed. Judge Daly said that he will consider reporting restrictions for the man's sentencing, which was adjourned to a date in March. 

-Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme