A South Dublin music teacher who is serving a three-year jail sentence for sexually assaulting two girls withdrew an application at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court yesterday. Parents of the man's victims believed he had intended to seek a review of his custodial sentence.
Judge Kieran O'Connor was not told what application was intended to be made. The 64-year-old married man, who cannot be named by order of the court, was jailed by Judge O'Connor last November after he pleaded guilty to three charges of sexually assaulting the girls, who attended music lessons at his home.
The girls were then aged eight and nine when the offences happened on dates in 1994 and 1995. "I quite honestly could have killed this man," the father of one of the victims told the court at the time.
When Judge O'Connor jailed the former architect, he listed the case for review on December 3rd next on condition that the defendant had treatment for his problem while in prison. Judge O'Connor also said he would look favourably at the situation if the convicted man sold his house and moved because he lived in the same area as his victims.
When the case was mentioned yesterday before Judge O'Connor, defence counsel Ms Mary Ellen Ring said her client was withdrawing his application.
Prosecuting counsel Mr George Birmingham agreed with Ms Ring that the court need not make any order on the matter since no application was moved.
Afterwards, one of the parents whose child was sexually molested by her music teacher said he was "very happy" that the man was remaining in prison.