This article is from page 2 of the 2011-07-19 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 2 JPG
A 60-YEAR-OLD Clare teacher who has pleaded guilty to 14 sexual offences against a teenage girl will be sentenced next month.
The man who, cannot be named for legal reasons, appeared at Ennis Circuit Court yesterday.
The defendant had previously admitted to 10 charges of the sexual exploitation of a child and four charges of the defilement of a teenage girl between September and November 2009.
Detective Sergeant Michael Moloney told the court that the girl, who was 15 when the offences began, outlined a series of incidents to Gardaí.
He said that the majority of the incidents had occurred in the classroom, with one incident taking place at the home of the accused while his wife and children were gone away.
Counsel for the State, Stephen Coughlan BL, outlined to the court how many of the sexual offences were committed behind a timber cabinet in a classroom.
A series of incidents read out in court described how the accused touched the girl and asked her to perform acts of a sexually explicit nature.
On another occasion, the court heard, the accused picked the girl up in his car and brought her to his home.
He told her that his wife and children were away. Mr Coughlan said that after the accused started to take off his clothes, he received a call from his wife.
The accused committed further sexual offences at the classroom on the day of his 60th birthday.
The man was seen alone in a classroom with the girl by a caretaker. On another occasion, he was also seen alone with the girl in a storeroom by another teacher.
The teacher described seeing the accused with the girl as “embarrassing” as teachers should not be alone with students in “such a confined space”.
Detective Moloney said that CCTV had corroborated the movements of the accused in the school during the period when the offences occurred.
He said that the accused had sent “extremely inappropriate” and “sexually explicit” text messages to the girl. The girl was described in court as an intelligent and keen sportswoman.
Counsel for the accused, Michael Collins BL, said his client had expressed his deepest regrets and apologies to the family. He said the man would be placed on the sex offenders register and would have to live with the shame and disgrace of his actions for the rest of his life.
Judge Carroll Moran imposed reporting restrictions, saying neither the injured party or the school should be identified.
He adjourned sentencing until September 26.