IRELAND
BBC News
September 6, 2020
John Boland was 45 years old, married with grown up children, when a “dark secret” he had kept for almost four decades was suddenly exposed.
His name had been found on a 1960s attendance register from a school where many young boys were abused on a daily basis by their teenage teacher.
John was among 19 known victims at Creagh Lane school in Limerick.
But he had told no-one of the abuse he suffered, not even his wife, until Gardaí (Irish police) contacted him out of the blue, asking for a statement.
John says his wife was “shocked” by the revelation.
“We went though a terrible time,” he says, recalling how he had to tell his family he was regularly molested between the ages of six and seven.
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