Christian Brother Jailed for Sexually Abusing Schoolboys
Irish Times
A Christian Brother has been jailed for sexually abusing young schoolboys in his classroom. Brother Thomas McCarry (66) had admitted a series of sample charges of indecently assaulting four boys as young as 10 at a national school in the midlands between 1984 and 1987. His jailing at Mullingar Circuit Court sitting in Tullamoretoday brought a conclusion to a ten-year investigation by detectives in the midlands town where the school is based. The court had earlier been told that Brother McCarry, of Clareville, Finglas Road, Glasnevin, Dublin had deep shame and sorrow for his victims. The assaults all took place during school hours while the boys were aged 10-11 and in fifth and sixth class. In statements to the gardai, four of his victims outlined how the Belfast native would approach from behind and lean over as if to help with schoolwork. Instead, he pulled up the jumper and shirt of each victim and rubbed either his lower stomach or flicked his nipples in a sexual way. In some instances, he put his hand inside his victims’ trousers and felt their private parts. In harrowing victim impact statements, two of his former pupils revealed that they had tried to take their own lives. In court today, Judge Tony Hunt described the effects on his victims as “very serious”. He acknowledged that Brother McCarry had joined the Christian Brothers at a young age (14), a time when he would not have been able to make a lifelong commitment. But, he said that he could have withdrawn from his “difficult regime” if he had found his situation too onerous, as others had done. He added: “There was a considerable breach of trust by him—a teacher in the religious profession…the offences were committed in the classroom in the presence of other children, some of whom noticed untoward events occurring”.
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