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Allegations
of Abuse in Institutions |
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A former Catholic brother
has been sentenced to five years imprisonment after being found guilty on
charges of sexually abusing boys at a Bernard McGrath, 58,
was last month found guilty by a jury on 21 charges and not guilty of a
further 23. The charges relate to
nine victims, who were aged between seven and 15 years, during McGrath's time
as a teacher and dorm master at McGrath initially faced
54 charges, but pleaded guilty to one charge of indecent assault and a
further nine charges were dropped during the trial. The jury, which
deliberated for almost 33 hours, was told during the trial that McGrath was
convicted on similar charges in 1993. In sentencing, Justice
Chisholm said an aggravating feature of the offending was the vulnerability
of the victims because of their particular disabilities. Chisholm said the
aggravating features of McGrath's offending included breach of trust; the
duration of the offending and the deep harm suffered by his victims. Chisholm said he took
into account the time McGrath had already served following convictions in the
1990s for similar offending. But supporters of the
men who were sexually abused by the former Catholic brother are angry at the
five-year prison sentence handed down. Ken Clearwater, who chairs the Male
Survivors of Sexual Abuse Trust, says the sentence is an insult to the
victims who had been hoping for a longer sentence and some closure |
