Courts / Dublin / Report
Ex-school principal and serial child abuser to spend further 16 months in jail
Summary
Aidan Clohessy, aged 85, was sentenced yesterday to four years for indecently assaulting two boys in the 1980s. He had previously been convicted of 19 counts of indecent assault involving six boys, with five counts from a second trial for assaulting four boys between 1969 and 1986. Judge Martin Nolan, after considering the totality principle and Clohessy's age, imposed an additional 16‑month sentence to run consecutively with the earlier four‑year term, giving a global sentence of five years and four months. The offences involved inappropriate touching and physical chastisement of boys aged 10 to 13 who were pupils, and some boarders, at St Augustine's School in Blackrock, Dublin, where Clohessy served as principal from the early 1970s until 1993. The court noted that Clohessy was in a position of trust and that the victims were vulnerable. The 16‑month term is to be served after the four‑year sentence already imposed. Aidan Clohessy pleaded not guilty.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Ex-school principal and serial child abuser to spend further 16 months in jail. Charges or matters: a total of 19 counts of indecent assault in relation to six boys following two separate trials last month at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where he pleaded not guilty; five counts of indecently assaulting four boys; 14 counts of indecent assault – 10 in relation to one boy and four in relation to a second boy on dates between 1983 and 1985. Procedural stage: sentence. Findings: Convicted
When:
- 1969 and 1986 Incident
- 1983 and 1985 Incident
- 2025-06-24 Publication
Case subjects
Convicted Person
Charges: a total of 19 counts of indecent assault in relation to six boys following two separate trials last month at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court, where he pleaded not guilty; five counts of indecently assaulting four boys; 14 counts of indecent assault – 10 in relation to one boy and four in relation to a second boy on dates between 1983 and 1985 (Proven)
Plea: Not guilty
Finding: Convicted
Outcome: Convicted; Judge Martin Nolan today imposed sentence in relation to the second trial, in which Clohessy was convicted of five counts of indecently assaulting four boys. Judge Nolan said that if this was a standalone trial and Clohessy was a younger man, he would impose a sentence of between three and four years.; After hearing the facts of the case yesterday, Judge Nolan adjourned the matter overnight to consider his sentence and the defence's submission in relation to the totality principle.
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