‘I will not allow him to take a minute more’: Former teacher jailed for abusing teenager

A former teacher who sexually abused a teenager he befriended through his local pitch and putt club has been jailed for eight years.

The now 46-year-old complainant waived his anonymity so that Patrick Bardon (54), of Erry, Clara, Co Offaly, would be named. Bardon was convicted by a Central Criminal Court jury sitting in Longford last June of 11 charges of orally raping the then teenager on dates between October 1992 and March 1994.

The court heard that Bardon became friendly with the teenager at the pitch and putt club and later got to know his family. The abuse occurred in Bardon’s then home in Ferbane after he introduced the teenager, who was between 15 and 17 at the time, to pornography.

A victim impact statement, read into the record by the investigating sergeant, stated that the man was waiving his anonymity to help other victims of sexual abuse to get the help and support they deserve.

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He said that following the jury’s verdict a second elephant was lifted off his shoulder, the first had been removed on the day he disclosed the abuse. The man described himself “not as a victim but as a survivor”.

The man said the abuse had a profound impact on his life and he felt he had nothing to live for until the birth of his daughter, which he said put a smile on his face and gave him hope and love in his heart.

He said the abuse affected his relationships, particularly those with his parents, and he only visits them so his daughter can see her grandparents. The man said he suffers flashback and nightmares and “throws up” when he thinks of the abuse.

“I now live in the future,” he said, adding that Bardon took 31 years of his life but “I will not allow him to take a minute more”.

Bardon took the stand and told his counsel John Shortt SC that he was “so sorry that this ever happened”.

“It was absolutely dreadful. I want to apologise unreservedly,” he said. “He was a gentleman. His parents were lovely people. I cannot assess why it happened...I hope the rest of his life is better than those years. He should never have had to go through that.”

He agreed with Mr Shortt that he accepts “total responsibility now”, there is “no other person to blame” and said he is “absolutely” prepared to engage with ongoing treatment.

Mr Shortt said his client had lived “a blameless and decent life as a teacher” and outlined his various health difficulties. Bardon said that when he lost his teaching job, it affected his life and he became a hermit.

“I believed in teaching as a vocation and when that was gone, that was me gone,” he said. “I set out in life to help people and what happened should never ever have happened.”

Mr Justice David Keane said he was grateful to the man for his “clear and powerful description” of the impact Bardon’s crimes had on him.

He said aggravating factors included the significant abuse of trust, as Bardon was the then teenager’s teacher and a friend of his family. He said the offence involved grooming of the complainant and a pattern of abuse over 18 months which caused “considerable harm”.

Mr Justice Keane said the offence warranted a headline sentence of 12 years. He said Bardon was not entitled to credit for a plea of guilty, but he accepted that he has now acknowledged what he did. He imposed a sentence of 10 years in prison and suspended the final two years on strict conditions.