Ex-preacher indecently assaulted boy at camp

A WELL-KNOWN publisher, environmentalist and former Church of Ireland lay preacher “shamefully abused the trust” of a 13-year- old boy when he indecently assaulted him 26 years ago, a judge has said.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Judge Carroll Moran imposed a suspended 12-month sentence on Hugh Weir (76), Whitegate, Co Clare, for indecently assaulting the boy at a Clare Young Environmentalists Summer Camp at Weir’s home between June 28th and September 2nd, 1985.

The author of numerous books, Weir was also a prominent member of the Church of Ireland, for a number of years being a member of the church’s general synod. He also served as a diocesan lay preacher in Limerick and Killaloe. Weir has written a weekly environmental column for the Clare Champion.

The court heard that at the camp in 1985, teenagers were sleeping in tents beside Weir’s home. Garda Niall Naughton said the boy in question was fighting with another boy and as a result was put in separate accommodation.

In a statement to gardaí, the man – now aged 39 – said Weir came into his room “and he started to fondle me”. The boy said Weir then indecently assaulted him.

Garda Naughton said that when Weir was first questioned by gardaí, he said it was a relief that the incident was going to be dealt with.

In a statement to gardaí, Weir said: “I recall leaving the room in disgust at what I had done.”

He added: “I have never done this with any other child that attended the summer camps, it was a one-off incident.”

Weir told gardaí he had “suffered remorse on almost a daily basis”.

Garda Naughton accepted it was an isolated incident. He said Weir was very co-operative and filled any gaps in the evidence.

Robert O’Reilly, for Weir, said: “Dr Weir has no rational explanation for the assault. It was an isolated incident.”

He said Weir went forward on a signed guilty plea from the District Court and had no previous convictions.

Mr O’Reilly said that his client was suffering from ill-health, stating that he has post-polio syndrome, having suffered from polio as a child. He said that Weir also had a blood clot in his lung and suffers from sleep apnoea. He had an income of €175 a week and no money to provide compensation to the victim.

Garda Naughton said the victim was in London in 1998 and needed money and got in touch with Weir seeking money.

Weir gave him £300. Mr O’Reilly said that there was no question that the man was looking to blackmail Weir. He added that the victim in the case had also made allegations against others.

The man read out a victim impact statement in which he said: “It is nearly impossible to put into words the horror of what I have endured in my childhood and throughout my adult life as a result of having been abused as a child.

“It destroyed my confidence and self-esteem and my trust in adults.”

He added: “During my early teenage years, following the abuse, in an effort to block out the reality of what had happened to me as a child I descended into a world of drug addiction.”

He said he had been addiction-free for the past 14 months.

Judge Moran said Weir had a duty of care and was in a position of trust “and shamefully abused the trust”. In imposing a suspended sentence, he took into account Weir’s early plea, his co-operation with gardaí and that he had no previous convictions.