A former teacher at Terenure College in Dublin has been jailed for eight years for the systematic sexual abuse of twenty-three boys at the private school between 1973 and 1990.
John McClean, of Casimir Avenue, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, abused them through his roles as teacher, rugby coach and costume fitter for school plays.
A complaint was made in 1979, but aside from removing him from his costume fitting duties, no other action was taken.
In 1996, the then head of the Carmelites Order in Ireland became aware that McClean admitted abusing one boy, but it wasn’t brought to garda attention.
Last week, the court heard harrowing evidence of how the abuse impacted the lives of the survivors, with one of them describing McClean as "evil personified".
As a direct result of his crimes, McClean caused relationships to break down and young men to attempt to take their own lives, imprinting lifelong psychological scars.
