Former school principal jailed for sexually abusing seven pupils

A former school principal convicted of sexually abusing seven of his pupils has been jailed for three years.

After a trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court last March, Patrick Harte (78) was convicted of 11 counts of indecently assaulting seven pupils at the Sancta Maria Christian Brothers primary school on Synge Street, Dublin between September 1968 and September 1970.

The court heard that when gardaí put the allegations to Harte in 2015, the former teacher claimed the victims had “a vendetta against him”.

Anne Rowland SC, prosecuting, told the court there was no evidence any of the victims were ever in contact with each other since the offending took place.

“As far as I’m concerned, they are all independent,” Detective Garda Garvan Ware told the trial.

Harte, of Glendown Park, Templeogue, Dublin had denied the charges. "I abhor all forms of child abuse, discrimination and social injustice," he said during his trial, adding that he e would go to "the High Court" if his sentence reflected a "sectarian" motivated prosecution.

Passing sentencing on Friday, Judge Martin Nolan said that at the time of the offending, Harte was the victims' teacher and they found him cruel and "too fond of punishment".

Judge Nolan said the evidence disclosed seems to indicate “a pattern of misbehaviour”. He said the victims were “particularly courageous” in coming forward to give their evidence and the court thanks them.

He sentenced Harte to two years imprisonment for the first count of indecent assault and one year imprisonment for the second count, which he ordered to run consecutive to the former sentence.

Judge Nolan sentenced Harte to one year imprisonment on each of the remaining nine counts of indecent assault, but ordered that they run concurrent to the other sentence, resulting in an effective sentence of three years imprisonment.

At an earlier sentencing hearing, the court heard that Harte repeatedly and continuously molested the children amidst an atmosphere in his class of severe corporal punishment and verbal abuse.

Victims testified at the trial that he would find reasons to call them up to his desk, sometimes for praise and other times for correction of minor misbehaviours. He would warn the rest of the class to look at their books and not raise their heads before proceeding to fondle the boys’ genital areas.

Ms Rowland told the court Harte would regularly beat pupils with a leather strap which he constantly had to hand. She said victims described being afraid of him and being punished for the slightest thing.

Ms Rowland told the court three of the victims wished to waive their anonymity.

Fr Tony Conlon, now a Catholic priest, said the abuse had “a paralysing effect” on his life and prevented him from achieving so many things in life.

“Throughout my life I always believed I was the only one, I had no idea there were others who suffered. I felt I had done something wrong and afraid I would be found out,” he said.

He said he was terrified someone would find out he was the victim of child abuse and that this might cause them to think he would be an abuser himself.

Fellow victim Dermot Hallion told the court the abuse continued to affect him into adulthood, causing him to feel worthless and low in confidence.

Fr Conlon told gardaí ­ that Harte once smashed a pupil’s head up against a wall and other victims described “constant beatings” with the leather strap.

Det Garda Ware agreed with Patrick Gageby SC, defending, that the prosecution had not brought any charges of child cruelty or physical abuse against his client.

Harte was due to be sentenced on two occasions earlier this week.

On Monday, Judge Nolan denied a defence application to adjourn the case for two months because of Harte’s risk of getting Covid-19.

On Tuesday, Harte failed to show up again and his lawyers told the court he had gone into hospital with cardiac issues.