Priest and Former Headmaster Jailed for Sexual Abuse

Build
February 22, 2013

http://www.build.ie/national_news.asp?newsid=158942

A 66-year-old Dominican priest and former headmaster has been jailed for three years for the sexual assault of a boy.

Fr Vincent Mercer pleaded guilty at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to 15 sample counts of sexually assaulting the boy on various dates between 1986 and 1994.

The boy was aged 11 when the abuse started.

The priest is out of ministry but remains a member of the Dominican Order and was the former headmaster of Newbridge College in Co Kildare.

The abuse happened when Mercer resided at St Mary's Dominican Church at Pope's Quay in Cork.

The final 18 months of the sentence were suspended.