A former underage soccer team coach who sexually abused four boys in the 1990s has received a four-year sentence with one suspended.
The victims of Des Foley (49), who was himself abused, have rejected a €30,000 compensation offer from an award paid out to him as a victim of sexual abuse at a residential institution.
Foley, Coultry Road, Ballymun, pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to sexually assaulting four boys aged between eight and 14 between 1989 and 1996.
Foley’s victims told Judge Frank O’Donnell the effects of the abuse still affected their lives causing them to have problems with substance abuse, people in authority, sexual relationships and anger management.
Garda Ronan McMorrow said Foley repeatedly sexually abused the boys, whom he had befriended through the football team, after inviting them back to his flat.