This article is from page 4 of the 2009-07-07 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 4 JPG
THE jury in the trial of a County Clare teacher accused of sexual as- sault was sent home last night after it failed to reach a verdict on eight counts of abusing two boys.
The 38-year-old man, who can not be named for legal reasons, was last week acquitted of ten counts of sex- ual assault against a then ten-year- old boy. The jury, at Dublin Circuit Court, will resume deliberating this (Tuesday) morning, having already deliberated for almost four hours.
The man pleaded not guilty to 18 counts of sexually assaulting the
three boys on dates between Septem- ber 2002 and June 2004.
Last week, Judge Patrick McCartan directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty on eight of the counts against one of the boys, due to lack of evidence.
On Friday the jury reached its not guilty verdict on two further counts of sexual abuse against the then ten- year-old boy, following fifty minutes’ deliberations.
The principal of the school where the accused worked told the jury the man had “proved to be a good teach- er’ after joining the school.
The three boys who alleged that
they were sexually assaulted by the man denied during cross-examina- tion that they “misinterpreted” tactile or friendly gestures made to them by the accused.
A now 15-year-old boy told Ms Mary Rose Gearty BL, prosecut- ing, that the accused man taught him while he was in third class and dur- ing that time the accused had stuck his hand down the back of his trou- sers and inside his pants.
He said he also recalled it happening the next year when he was in fourth class after he received an injury on the football pitch. He said he recalled the man’s hands being “cold”.
A second boy, also aged 15, told the court that the accused had put his hands inside his pants and touched his bum during lessons at the ac- cused man’s home. He said this hap- pened “once or twice a lesson” for about two months in April and May Auer
A now 17-year-old boy said that while he was taking lessons at the accused man’s home, the man began lifting up his jumper and later put his hands inside the back of his pants “at the back”. He said this happened in the six months between January and June 2004 and occurred “sometimes twice a lesson”.