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Former Christian Brother jailed for 1970s abuse

Summary

A former Christian Brother, John Merrick (77) of Portmarknock Park, Portmarknock, Dublin, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to four charges of indecent assault against one sixth class pupil and three charges of indecent assault against his classmate on dates between September 1977 and June 1978. Both victims are now 58 years old and have indicated they wish to retain their anonymity but are happy for Merrick to be named in reporting the case. Merrick, who entered the Christian Brothers at the age of 14 and left the order in 1981, has previous convictions from the District Court in relation to similar offending around the same time. These incidences of abuse were reported in 1996 and he was later convicted in 1998, resulting in a six month suspended sentence and a 12 month suspended sentence. Philipp Rahn SC, defending, told the court that at the time of the convictions from the District Court, Merrick engaged in a sex offender treatment programme and also subsequently engaged in the Restorative Justice Programme. One of the men took the stand to read his victim impact statement into the record. Judge Pauline Codd imposed a sentence of 12 months for the offences against the first man and a consecutive 10 month term for the offences against the second man. She suspended the final 10 months of the term on strict conditions for 12 months. The matter was adjourned for the purpose of the court considering the victim impact statement and other submissions.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Former Christian Brother jailed for 1970s abuse. Charges or matters: four charges of indecent assault against one sixth class pupil and three charges of indecent assault against his classmate on dates between September 1977 and June 1978. Procedural stage: sentence

When:

• September 1977 Incident
• June 1978 Incident
• 2024-06-11 Publication

Case subjects

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Sentence Violent Crime

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Read the original CNI report