Saturday, November 12, 2016
IRELAND
Irish Examiner
Liam Heylin
An elderly priest on trial for the alleged sexual assault on a schoolboy during sex education instruction in a school office testified yesterday, “I never touched him sexually, improperly — never.”
The complaint said he was in third year in school, in the mid-1970s, when he was called to the priest’s office for sex education. He said the priest masturbated him.
The defendant, who is not named for legal reasons, told Judge Gerard O’Brien and the jury at Cork Circuit Criminal Court it did not happen.
Tom Creed, defending, said, “You have heard the allegations that you sexually molested him.” He replied, “I never molested Mr (name)”.
Mr Creed put it to the defendant about where the complainant said the office was located. The defendant said the room had another name and was for storage of mattresses and sports gear. “That room was never dignified with the name of office,” he said.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.