School principal preyed on children for two decades without ever being caught

NORTHERN IRELAND
Belfast Telegraph

BY DEBORAH MCALEESE – 30 SEPTEMBER 2014

A Christian Brother, who has been compared to notorious paedophile Fr Brendan Smyth, sexually abused children for two decades without ever being brought to justice, it has emerged.

For nine years he preyed on and abused children at the former boys’ home Rubane House in Kircubbin where he was the school principal before becoming overall director of the home, which was run by the De La Salle Order.

The De La Salle Order has accepted that he “sexually abused children in his care before, during and after his time in Rubane”, the Historical Institutional Abuse Inquiry heard yesterday.

However he was never reported to the police and has since died.

Lawyer to the inquiry, Joseph Aiken, likened the child abuser to Fr Brendan Smyth – whose abuse of children spanned decades and continents.

“The type of grooming behaviour, abuse of power and sexual abuse of boys are similar to those traits that the public will be familiar with from cases such as Fr Brendan Smyth,” said Mr Aiken.

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