Former GAA coach and serial abuser jailed for indecently assaulting boys

A 75-year-old farmer from Cloonloo, County Sligo, has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment following his conviction for indecently assaulting two young boys during the 1970s. At Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, the man was found guilty of fourteen counts of indecent assault. The offences occurred between 1972 and 1975, with the abuse taking place in the victim's family home, in the defendant's vehicle, and at a local cinema. Judge Martin Nolan noted the defendant had abused one victim between sixty and one hundred times over an extended period. Both men came forward in 2014 after learning of the defendant's subsequent offences against other boys in the 1980s, for which he had previously received a sentence of seven years and ten months. The court heard victim impact statements describing lasting psychological harm. The judge emphasised the severity of the conduct and noted an absence of remorse from the defendant.