A former scout leader was jailed for three years yesterday for forcing an 11-year-old boy to perform oral sex on him after initially abusing him at a scout camp while ghost stories were being told.
John O'Leary (42), Clontarf Estate, Blackrock, Cork, will serve only half of the sentence as the last 18 months were suspended by presiding judge, Patrick J Moran.
Cork Circuit Criminal Court heard that Mr O'Leary's assaults on an 11-year-old boy in the 1970s while he was head of a scout troop left the victim feeling "stained for life".
The victim previously told the court his life had changed forever as a result of the abuse. In a statement last November he said the abuse was "repulsive and dirty", adding he had gone through hell in the years following it.
O'Leary pleaded guilty last November at Cork Circuit Criminal Court to five counts of indecent assault against the boy at a disused quarry, a scout hall and a scout camp during the late 1970s.
The assaults started when O'Leary climbed into the boy's bunk while ghost stories were being told at a scout camp. Mr O'Leary put his hand inside the boy's sleeping bag and abused him. The following day he brought the boy to a field and took off both their clothes. He forced the youth to perform oral sex on him and then performed oral sex on the boy.
Ms Alice Fawsitt, prosecuting, said yesterday that friends of O'Leary had raised €30,000 in compensation for the victim. The money was handed over to his solicitor in two instalments.
O'Leary, a father of two, said in evidence yesterday that he was ashamed of his conduct and concerned at the devastating impact recent revelations have had on his family. He lost his job because of the charges and said his wife and two teenage children had suffered immensely because of the publicity surrounding the case.
He told the court he pleaded guilty to the charges straight away in order to avoid putting the victim through the "media circus" of a trial. He said he hoped the finalisation of the case would give the victim some sort of closure.
Mr O'Leary added he couldn't even begin to comprehend the horror he put the child through during the assaults. Mr Ray Boland, defending, said his client wasn't even 20 at the time of the offence.
Judge Patrick J. Moran said the victim had experienced a great deal of trauma because of the abuse inflicted on him. He said he accepted that O'Leary had pleaded guilty and that there was no likelihood of him re-offending.
He noted €30,000 in compensation had been paid to the victim, but he recalled the victim stating in evidence that he was not particularly interested in financial compensation. He added that it was a difficult case because the defendant had "got on well" in life and had become a stalwart of the GAA, at one period acting as goalkeeper in Blackrock, Cork.
However, taking the victim's feelings on a custodial sentence in to consideration, he jailed Mr O'Leary for three years on all five counts to run concurrently and suspended the final 18 months. He granted O'Leary leave to appeal.