‘Egotistical and conniving’ – victim tells of judge abuse

A man abused by a former judge with significant disabilities, who was also a former secondary school teacher, has described his abuser as an extremely egotistical, conniving man who knew exactly what he was doing.

59-year-old Gerard O’Brien, a former Circuit Court judge and former teacher at CBC Monkstown in south Dublin, will be sentenced next month for one count of attempted rape and eight counts of sexual assault in relation to six boys – four of whom were students or former students of his at the time.

The offences took place between 1991 and 1997 when the victims were aged between 17 and 24.

O’Brien, who was born with no arms and only one leg, was in his late twenties and his early thirties at the time.

He had denied all the allegations, but was found guilty by a jury last year.

Judge Alexander Owens said he is likely to impose a custodial sentence, but wanted to hear from prison authorities about the measures they can put in place to deal with O’Brien’s serious physical disabilities.

Prosecuting counsel Anne Marie Lawlor said O’Brien’s disabilities were a thread running through the case.

The court heard he needed assistance dressing and going to the toilet.

O’Brien ‘favoured certain students’ – prosecuting counsel

The young men admired O’Brien as a teacher and also tried to help him.

O’Brien was involved in extra curricular activities, in particular the annual school musical.

Ms Lawlor said O’Brien developed inappropriate relationships and favoured certain students.

She said this involved giving them alcohol and taking them to the pub.

Five of the men described waking up to a sexual assault after staying overnight in O’Brien’s home.

The court heard victim impact statements from three of the victims.

Two of the statements were read by Inspector Jonathan Hayes, of the Garda National Protection Services Bureau.

The first victim said he became involved with O’Brien after being chosen to take part in the musical.

He said he was 16 when O’Brien first asked him to help him with the toilet.

He said that was when the inappropriate sexual behaviour began.

The boy said the trust bestowed on him to be involved in such an intimate situation was fully encouraged by the school.

But he said he now wondered why that was the case when O’Brien was surrounded by adult teachers.

O’Brien ‘knew exactly what he was doing’ – victim

He said he wondered if the school could have done more to protect the boys.

He said he felt stupid as he had been manipulated by an extremely egotistical, conniving, intelligent man who was pushing boundaries to see what he could get away with for sexual thrills.

He said O’Brien knew exactly what he was doing.

The man said he would not let O’Brien destroy him but the abuse had impacted on his emotional wellbeing.

He called O’Brien a fraud and a horrible individual who was not willing to admit wrongdoing.

But he said he could move forward knowing the legal system had found him to be a sex offender and found him to be an innocent pupil who was being charitable.

In the second victim impact statement read by Inspector Hayes, the man said he was 17 when he was assaulted.

He said he had admired O’Brien and trusted him but had been betrayed “to his inner core”.

He said he had suffered from chronic anxiety and self doubt and had made a suicide attempt.

He said he believed he would never fully recover from the mental damage O’Brien had inflicted on him.

And he said he would continue to attend therapy after O’Brien had served his sentence.

Third man ‘shocked and scared’

The third man said he also started to suffer while taking part in the school musical.

He said there was frequent and excessive drinking and O’Brien’s dependence on him as a “helper” grew.

He said he was shocked and scared and tried to run away.

The man said he used to be an outgoing, trusting, happy person. He said it was impossible to say how his life would have turned out if he had not experienced such grooming and such manipulative behaviour.

He said it should not happen to anyone and he believed he would be a very different person if he had never met O’Brien.

In mitigation, defence counsel Michael O’Higgins said O’Brien’s disabilities made the case very unusual and even unique.

He said his client accepted the jury’s verdict to the extent that he accepted they were entitled come to the verdict that they did.

He said any relationship between a teacher and a pupil was inappropriate. But Mr O’Higgins said he wanted to point out that it was a very different era.

There was a lack of support for O’Brien in managing his disabilities, and there was a culture of alcohol.

O’Brien ‘very immature’ – defence counsel

He said these issues did not absolve O’Brien of his responsibility, but were relevant factors.

Mr O’Higgins said a probation report referred to “sophisticated grooming” by O’Brien, but that O’Brien had a great sense of loneliness and isolation.

The teacher-pupil relationship was not usual because of O’Brien’s dependence on pupils for help, and he described O’Brien as “very immature”.

He said O’Brien had suffered incidents of sexual abuse as a child.

Despite conquering adversity by becoming a teacher, a solicitor and a judge, his attempts to have consensual relationships had all ended very badly.

He said his client was suffering from a major depressive disorder.

Mr O’Higgins said O’Brien had scaled very lofty heights, but had now come crashing down and had lost everything.

He handed in a testimonial on his client’s behalf by now retired solicitor Dara Robinson who described O’Brien as a “remarkable” “entertaining, engaging and erudite” man who had stayed many times in his home and was extremely popular with his family.

Judge Owens said he had to give the matter a lot of consideration.

But he said his preliminary view was that there would be a custodial element in the sentence he would be imposing.

However, he wanted the prison service to consider the reports in the case, particularly a report from an occupational therapist, in terms of how the service could accommodate O’Brien’s disabilities.

He adjourned sentencing until 29 May.

O’Brien is a former state solicitor for North Tipperary. He became a Circuit Court judge in 2015 and resigned in January after his conviction.