A Co Meath school bus driver who sexually assaulted several children on their way to and from school on the bus has been jailed for 18 months by Dublin Circuit Criminal Court.
The 61-year-old man, who cannot be named in case of victim identification, was convicted by a jury last May of seven of 47 charges of sexually assaulting six children on the bus between 1996 and 1999.
His victims included nine-year- old twin brother and sister, and three other girls aged six, seven, 10 and 12. They testified in court that the accused had touched them on their private parts after calling them to the front of the bus.
His counsel, Mr John Phelan SC, pleaded with Judge Yvonne Murphy for a suspended sentence. He said the distress that the conviction and subsequent time in prison had had on his client and his wife had been harrowing. "Justice has been served," Mr Phelan said, appealing to Judge Murphy to suspend the sentence and place him under supervision instead.
Mr Phelan said the packed courtroom, which consisted mostly of people from the defendant's neighbourhood, was testimony to the high regard in which he was held in the community.
Three witnesses, one of whom was a retired garda, told Judge Murphy that the accused was "a decent man". He was heavily involved in the local parish and the GAA. He was also described as "a pillar of society", "an honest-to-God good neighbour" and as "honest and loyal".
Mr Phelan also told Judge Murphy to take into account the fact that his client's offences against the children had been "on the minor end of the scale". He said he was in no way trying to diminish the effects they had on the children, but "they would grow up and be able to put this matter behind them and get on with the rest of their lives."
The accused, on the other hand, was a man in his sixties suffering from ill health, he had no children, and a prison term would leave his wife alone. He also had no previous convictions and was unlikely to re-offend.
The defendant then read out a brief statement to the court in which he said: "I never intended to cause any distress to children. I would never ever harm any children in any way. I am very sorry if I did something to cause them any distress."
Judge Murphy said two Court of Criminal Appeal judgments on February 22nd last disqualified him from the category of criminals eligible for a suspended sentence.
She was taking into account the the fact that he had been in a position of trust which he had abused and his not guilty plea had meant his young victims had to go through the distress of testifying in court.
She sentenced him to concurrent 18-month sentences on all seven counts and ordered that he remain under the supervision of the probation and welfare services for three years after his release.
She also added his name to the list of sexual offenders according to the provisions of section 14 of the Sexual Offenders Act 2001 and backdated the sentence to May 2nd this year.