Former Christian Brother Guilty of Sexually Abusing Boy

BBC News
March 22, 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-21904077

A former Christian Brother, originally from Belfast, has been found guilty of sexually abusing a boy at a school in County Galway in the 1960s.

Robert Doherty, 72, from Glenwood Estate, Dundalk, was found guilty of six counts of indecent assault at Galway Circuit Criminal Court.

He denies committing the offences at Letterfrack Industrial School between August 1965 and April 1967.

Doherty, originally from the Falls Road, will be sentenced in May.

The court heard he began teaching at the school in 1965 and a year later was put in charge of the boys detained there.

He worked in Letterfrack until 1968 and left the Christian Brothers order in 1976.

The victim, who is now 59, claimed the school was ruled by fear and said he could only remember one brother who did not abuse him during his time there.

The man said the abuse happened on a regular basis over a considerable period of time.

Speaking after the verdict, the victim said he was grateful for the support police had given him since he first reported the abuse in 1999.

He said he had dreaded the legal process many times, but was glad that he had pursued it.