Louth teacher jailed for sex assaults on pupil

A Co Louth school teacher has been jailed for two years for indecently assaulting a 12 year-old boy more than 25 years ago.

A Co Louth school teacher has been jailed for two years for indecently assaulting a 12 year-old boy more than 25 years ago.

Michael Anthony Walsh (aged 59), of Avenue Road, Dundalk, was found guilty by a jury on four counts of indecent assault between June 1981 and June 1982. He was also placed on the sex offenders register.

The now 40-year-old victim told Mr Kevin Seagrave BL, prosecuting, at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, that he had first met Walsh when he was 10 years old.

He said that he had had a normal, happy childhood up to then and that he had been developing as a child of that age should but that the abuse had changed his life.

He said that Walsh had shown an interest in him and his schoolwork, had given him the first book that he ever read and had taught him to play chess.

He said he felt spellbound and under the control of Walsh but that he could not tell anybody about the abuse. At one stage he had attempted suicide.

The man told Judge Michael White that Walsh had destroyed his childhood.

He told Mr Seagrave that, after the assaults, he had stopped participating in activities, became very withdrawn and began to suffer blackouts. He began wetting the bed and felt ashamed and disgusted with himself.

He said that he had stopped going to school and had attended a psychiatric unit. He decided that he should leave home because of all the painful memories associated with it. He travelled to England where he struggled to get work because of his lack of education and formal qualifications.

He said that he missed his family terribly, particularly his younger siblings, but found it hard to return home for any length of time.

Colleagues and past pupils of Walsh told Patrick Martin Giblin SC, defending, that Walsh was a decent, honest and honourable man who encouraged students to their full potential and worked "above and beyond the call of duty".

Judge White described it as a very tragic case and said that the court faced an "onerous" task in sentencing.

He said that he was presented with the "divergent views of the moving testimony of the victim" and a defendant who is "held in high regard by his colleagues and students".

Judge White commended the courage shown by the victim in reporting the incident and giving evidence both at the trial in Dundalk Circuit Criminal Court and at the sentence hearing today.

He said that these incidents resulted in the loss of innocence of a child and that the victim had been cruelly, sexually exploited by Walsh.

Judge White recognised Walsh's good character, the beneficial impact he had on his students and the fact that he had been suspended from teaching during the 10 years it took the case to be finalised.

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