A CHRISTIAN brother has been remanded in custody after he admitted to sexually assaulting four students in an industrial school 45 years ago.Stephen Allen (77) told gardai in an interview that he touched some of the boys in "a moment of weakness" and described it as "an affection that went out of control".
Allen, with an address at Christian Brothers Provincial, Griffith Avenue, Marino, Dublin, molested the young teenage boys while they were working under his supervision in the kitchen of the school.
He pleaded guilty on the morning of his trial at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 21 counts of indecent assault on dates between 1961 and 1964.
He denied that he had been sexually abused himself as a child.
Judge Frank O'Donnell heard in victim impact statements from the men, now aged between 57 and 61 years old, that they had been significantly affected by Allen's abuse.
Inspector Paul Scott said that one man was first contacted by gardai after Allen named him as one of his victims.
The victim had never told anyone about the abuse, including his wife, and lived in fear that someone would find out about it. He later attended counselling to try and deal with it, but he stopped going to sessions because he had found it too difficult to recount events.
Trouble
One man said he fled to England as soon as he left the school but spent his whole life afraid that the brothers would find him and bring him back. He got married but has since divorced.
Another victim said he was full of anger because of Allen's abuse, which had caused him "significant trouble".
Insp Scott said that Allen was interviewed by gardai in February 1999 after the first victim reported the abuse.
Allen initially denied the charges but told gardai he wanted to apologise to the men "in the hope it would make things easier for them".
He later withdrew this when it was put to him by gardai that he should not apologise unless there was an element of truth in the allegations.
Judge O'Donnell adjourned sentencing to March after he revoked Allen's bail and remanded him in custody.
"It's a long time ago but the victims are still suffering," Judge O'Donnell said.
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(Source: II)