This article is from page 2 of the 2011-05-31 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A SIXTY-year-old Clare school teacher who pleaded guilty to 14 sexual offences against a teenage girl will be sentenced in July.
In court in January, the defendant admitted 10 charges of the sexual exploitation of a child and four charges of the defilement of a teenage girl between September and November 2009.
The majority of the charges relate to alleged offences at a school in the county. The alleged victim was aged 15 and turned 16 during the period of time in question.
The case was adjourned to yesterday. At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Counsel for the State Stephen Coughlan said, “It’s a sensitive matter. The evidence will be lengthy.”
He suggested that the case be adjourned to the week of July 5 next, for sentencing. However, defence counsel Michael Collins BL said this would cause difficulty for him and he sought an alternative date.
The date of July 18 was fixed for the sentencing, which, the court heard, will take an hour.
The accused was initially brought before the district court in June of last year and was returned for trial to the circuit court, following a lengthy garda investigation.