Courts / Dublin / Report

Former judge convicted of attempted rape and sex abuse has sentence hearing postponed for weeks

Date
2024-02-19

Stage
Sentence

Primary locality
Dublin

County
Dublin

Summary

Gerard O'Brien, a former Circuit Court judge aged 59, was convicted in December 2023 by a Central Criminal Court jury of one count of attempted anal rape and eight counts of sexual assault involving six young men. The offences, which took place between March 1991 and November 1997 in Dublin, were committed while O'Brien was a teacher in his 30s. The complainants, four of whom were his students, were aged 17 to 24 at the time. O'Brien denied all charges. He resigned from the judiciary in February 2024. Defence counsel requested a delay of the sentence hearing to allow completion of several reports, which are expected to be ready by mid‑April. The court agreed to adjourn the hearing to 29 April, and O'Brien remains on continuing bail.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Former judge convicted of attempted rape and sex abuse has sentence hearing postponed for weeks. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted

When:

March 1991 Incident
November 1997 Incident
March 4 Hearing Or Sentence
April 29 Adjournment
2024-02-19 Publication

Case subjects

Gerard O'Brien

Convicted Person

Finding: Convicted

Outcome: Convicted; Mr Justice Alexander Owens agreed to adjourn the sentence date to April 29 and remanded O'Brien, who was not present in court, on continuing bail.; Mr Justice Alexander Owens agreed to adjourn the sentence date to April 29 and remanded O'Brien, who was not present in court, on continuing bail.