Former Christian Brother jailed for abuse

A former Christian Brother was jailed for two years today after admitting abusing 10 schoolboys.

The 76-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had earlier confessed to 10 sample charges at Cavan Circuit Criminal Court, the Courts Service said.

Two of his victims, now men in their 40s, watched from the public gallery as the sentence was passed by Judge Matthew Deery.

The pensioner left the Christian Brothers Order in 1966 and was working as a lay-teacher at a primary-level National School in County Cavan when he began abusing pupils.

Many of the youngsters, aged between nine and 10, were abused in the teacher’s flat between 1974 and 1980.

The court heard that he enticed them with sweets and even acted as a babysitter for one of his victims.

Suspicions grew about the teacher but he was still given a reference allowing him to get a new job in County Carlow, where he abused other pupils in the mid to late-1980s.

He had already received a suspended sentence earlier this year for that abuse, prompting Judge Deery to pass the custodial sentence today.

A Courts Service spokesman said: ‘‘He pleaded guilty to 10 counts of indecent assault and he was given two years on each of them, to run concurrently.’’

He added: ‘‘He is to be put on the register of sex offenders for five years.’’