Man convicted of attempted rape and sexual assaults involving six young men

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

A man was convicted at the Central Criminal Court of attempted anal rape and eight counts of sexual assault involving six young men. The jury returned guilty verdicts on all nine counts on 22 December 2023.

He had pleaded not guilty to all nine charges. The proceedings were reported on 22 December 2023.

The offences occurred at locations in Dublin between March 1991 and November 1997. The accused was a teacher at the time and some of the complainants were his students. Mr Justice Alexander Owens presided over the trial.

The third complainant to give evidence said he fell asleep beside the accused at a friend's house in early 1994 and woke to him licking his face and neck and pressing against him. He said he initially froze, then elbowed the accused and told him he was disappointed. He said he wanted to keep what had happened to himself.

The complainant rejected a defence suggestion that something happened while the accused was asleep. The accused said he had no recollection of being at a house with the complainant and denied any sexual encounter with him.

The accused initially denied sexual contact with all the complainants but later acknowledged contact with three, which he said was consensual. He said he had initially lied to gardaí because of shame and panic.

Mr Justice Owens remanded him on continuing bail until sentencing on 4 March and directed the preparation of victim impact statements.