A former Terenure College teacher has admitted at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to having had sexual relations with a 17-year-old boy.
Under cross-examination by Ms Caroline Biggs, prosecuting, the accused said he accepted that he had engaged in sexual activity with the pupil on March 9th, 1988.
The retired teacher said he initiated the activity by kissing the complainant.
He said: "I opened his trousers and he opened mine. He then left the chair he was sitting in and I lay down beside him and he masturbated me and I masturbated him."
Ms Biggs said the alleged victim's birth certificate showing his date of birth as April 1971 would be shown to the jury.
He agreed with Ms Biggs that he had not sought to find out the age of the schoolboy prior to the sexual activity.
Ms Biggs then asked him if it was the duty of a diligent teacher to look out for his students.
He replied: "Nobody looked out for them more."
When asked by Ms Biggs whether school pupils were at an impressionable age, the accused man's counsel, Mr Hugh Hartnett SC, objected.
"My client has admitted what he did was wrong. This is a court of law, not a court of morals," he said.
The accused has pleaded not guilty to two charges of indecently assaulting the alleged victim between November 1st and December 31st, 1985, at his south Dublin home.
He also denies 12 counts of gross indecency.
The trial continues.