SEX abuse victim Derek Mulligan knew what happened to young boys who
would dare to enter the old school in Derrybeg, Co Donegal, where he
suffered so much at the hands of caretaker Michael Ferry.
So,
after years of abuse, he returned to Ardscoil Mhuire every evening to
stand guard -- and to warn other boys to stay away from the "devil" who
abused him.
And when he finally built up the courage to confront
Ferry at the school just 13 months ago, he was stunned by the response
he received.
Despite claims from one of the college directors
yesterday that Ferry only entered the premises under supervision, Derek
remembers clearly what happened last June.
"I went to the school
because I knew Ferry was there. I had just found out that he had abused
other boys. I went to confront him," he told the Irish Independent.
"He was sitting in this big chair that he always sat in and there were no other adults there.
"I
shouted at him, 'You've done this to other people'. He didn't care. He
just looked at me and said, 'So you get it now, do you?'
"He was
throwing it back in my face. I just exploded. He showed no remorse, no
remorse whatsoever. It was just the cold way he said that to me, 'So you
get it'. He is pure evil."
Between 2002 and 2010, Derek took it upon himself to protect other boys.
Pointing
to a small wall where he sat every evening, Derek revealed: "I sat
there. I sat there every night I could and if any boy came within a yard
of the place, I chased them away.
"I did what I could. I knew Ferry was inside. He was sleeping in the place on a blow-up mattress."
The
24-year-old also revealed the victim of the first attacks -- for which
Ferry received a suspended sentence in 2002 -- had travelled to Dublin
on Monday to support him and the three other victims in the second case.
That
man, who has since left Co Donegal, had agreed Ferry shouldn't be named
in 2002 because the accused's mother was dying at the time.
"He
had wanted to save the family from embarrassment and we understand that.
He came to court to see Ferry sentenced," said Derek.
The full horror of the case is far from over for Derek and the other victims.
Support
"I
know I was the one who decided to speak out but I couldn't have done it
without the other boys' support. They have been brilliant.
"You live with something like this all day, every day. And when you close your eyes at night, you have the nightmares.
"But
I will continue to speak out because this man was allowed back into our
lives and back into this community after he had already been placed on
the sex offenders' register.
"I want answers and I won't go away
until I get those answers. There has to be a full inquiry into what
happened and people held to account."
He was supported in that
call last night by retired garda detective Martin Ridge, whose book on
sex abuse in the Gaoth Dobhair area, 'Breaking The Silence', exposed
cover-ups by the Catholic Church.
Mr Ridge and other gardai were
responsible for bringing paedophile priest Fr Eugene Greene and teacher
Denis McGinley to justice.
Greene abused victims in 17 Raphoe parishes and was sentenced to 12 years in jail in 2000.
Mr
Ridge said of the latest scandal: "It beggars belief that this has
happened. This was going on in the same part of Co Donegal at a time
when Greene was being sent to jail. McGinley was jailed in 2002, which
also covers this time period.
"There are young people in the
parish of Gaoth Dobhair and the surrounding areas who have suffered
horribly at the hands of paedophiles and it is heartbreaking to hear it
has happened yet again.
"This casts another dark shadow over the
area and I believe that unfortunately there are others out there who
have not, as yet, been brought to justice."
He added: "Derek
Mulligan is a very brave young man. He is shining a light on another
terrible episode. I want him and the other victims to know that there is
light at the end of the tunnel. By speaking out, they are helping
themselves and so many others."