A judge who described the sex crimes of a former scout leader as "depravity at its worst", said society would be worse off if he was to send the 61-year-old to jail.
Judge Carroll Moran made his comments at Limerick Circuit Court yesterday at the sentencing hearing of Thomas Waters, Moore Street, Kilrush Co Clare, who last month pleaded guilty to multiple counts of indecent assault on two brothers at his home from 1970 to 1975.
Waters pleaded guilty to the buggery of one of the brothers in 1970 and to 12 other counts of indecent assault against the same boy on dates between 1970 and April 1972, while both were cub scouts under his supervision. An employee of the ESB in Moneypoint, Waters also pleaded guilty to 20 counts of indecent assault on the other boy on dates between October 1970 and 1975.
The court heard that Waters, who also worked as an instructor at the local judo club, had subjected the two boys to a regime of continuous sexual abuse when the boys were aged eight and nine to 13 and 14. Judge Moran described what Waters had done to his young victims as "unspeakable". "This was depravity at its worst," the judge said.
An offer of €60,000 in compensation by Waters has been rejected by the injured parties who told the court on a previous occasion that no amount of money could compensate for what they've had to go through over the past 30 years.
Judge Moran said he had to take into account that Waters had sought medical treatment for his problems in 1982 which was 16 years before the victims lodged their complaint with the gardaí. This, the judge said, was an "exceptional factor" in the case and proved that Waters was willing to undergo treatment.
Judge Moran said he had to consider a psychiatrist's opinion that all of his work would be undone if Waters was incarcerated with other sex offenders. If Waters was sent to prison he would mix with other sex offenders and they would feed off each others' "deviance", the judge added.
The judge said he was not imposing an immediate prison sentence and adjourned the matter until February next so that Waters could be assessed by the Granada Institute. He was granted bail pending his next court appearance.