A former Christian Brother who sexually assaulted a nine-year-old boy at a Cork city school has been given a six months' suspended sentence after his victim twice told a court that he didn't want to see the man jailed.
Gary Creevey (57), Tullow, Co Carlow, pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting the boy while he was drying him down with a towel after a swimming class when he was a teacher at the North Monastery Primary School, Cork in the early 1970s.
Yesterday, the injured party told Judge Con O'Leary at Cork District Court that he didn't want to see Creevey go to jail but that he wanted both him and the school to be identified. "I just want the truth to come out," said the now 42-year-old man.
Judge O'Leary heard evidence from clinical psychologist Mr Patrick Randall of the Granada Institute in Dublin that Creevey had been referred to the institute by the head of his order in 1995 and that he had since undergone nine years of treatment.
Creevey's solicitor, Mr Frank Buttimer, said that the charge related to one single incident,that Creevey had no previous convictions, and that he had co-operated fully with gardaí, admitting his guilt at the outset.
Judge O'Leary said that he accepted that Creevey could not have done any more with regard to getting treatment in the nine years since 1995 but he remained deeply concerned about the actual sexual assault.
"My primary concern is the invasion of personal dignity of Mr X - to me the invasion of Mr X's bodily integrity deserves to be visited with a custodial sentence," said Judge O'Leary after adjourning the matter over lunch hour and considering the case.
But the injured party - who had told the court on an earlier occasion that he did not want Creevey jailed - asked to be allowed back into the witness box and he reiterated his wish not to see his abuser jailed, saying his admission of guilt was very important to him. Judge O'Leary said that while the injured party didn't have ownership of the proceedings, it was difficult not to acknowledge his wishes. He sentenced Creevey to six months in jail suspended on condition he keeps the peace for two years.