Former Limerick teacher who falsely accused colleague of child molestation escapes jail

A secondary school teacher who sent an anonymous letter falsely accusing a fellow teacher at a Limerick school of child molestation has avoided jail.

Judge Alec Gabbett, of Ennis District Court, sentenced the 42-year-old married man, a father of three young children, to a two-month suspended prison sentence.

The victim of two fraudulent letters sent by a Co Clare man accused in the case has said her life has become a “living nightmare” because of “fictitious accusations” made up by her colleague.

Judge Alec Gabbett said the defendant’s actions “could have had career-changing consequences for the victim and I have to remember that. I have to recognise the seriousness of the events that took place.”

The defendant’s solicitor, Daragh Hassett, accepted that what his client had done was “vile” harassment, but at the time the letters were sent his client was not a healthy person.

In this case, the defendants sent two anonymous, handwritten letters to gardaí and the school principal, claiming to be pupils at an all-girls school and naming a female teacher, “alleging that he had been viewing inappropriate content, including images of naked women on his phone while teaching in class”, explained Detective Garda Joe Cusack.

The father-of-three pleaded guilty to sending a letter to Henry Street Garda Station on March 30, 2022, which was said to be highly offensive and directed at another person with intent to cause harm, and to sending a second letter on May 25, 2022, to a school in Limerick.

Detective Garda Cusack said he was able to identify the accused from CCTV footage at the local post office, where he had sent one of the letters.

Mr Hassett asked Judge Gabbett not to convict his client, which the judge described as a “very difficult task”.

Mr Hassett said that as a result of his client’s actions in sending the letters, he resigned from his teaching position with his consent “and in return received a positive reference from the headteacher”.

He said that as a result of the case and the publicity that resulted from it, his client was ultimately disciplined in his new job, “and it was a surprise and a shock to him that he lost the previous support of the new director and now that job no longer exists.”

Mr Hassett said the Garda charge and the Teaching Council disciplinary action “are a natural consequence of what he did and what he did was particularly ill-judged, stupid and nasty”.

Mr Hassett said his client had pleaded guilty, had no previous convictions, paid the victim €5,000 in compensation and was undergoing treatment and therapy.

“This man is not feeling well – he is on medication – he has never taken medication before. He is on medication for anxiety and depression and medication to help him sleep at night,” he said.

Mr Hassett said the manner in which his client sent the anonymous letters “was the work of someone who does not have a criminal mind”.

“If he were more intelligent, he wouldn’t have gone into the post office himself.”

Judge Gabbett called the amount of testimony given in court on behalf of the defendants “a bit excessive”.

Mr Hassett said his client “was humiliated on the spot – everyone knows about this case”.

In response, Judge Gabbett said that “the victim has been humiliated here – to be brought into work and accused of sexually abusing a child is also humiliating.”

Mr Hassett said the reason for sending the letters was to “harass and torment” his client in the workplace, adding that a probation report showed his client was at very little risk of re-offending, if any at all.

Judge Gabbett set the bail amount for the appeal to the District Court and
ordered the identity of the accused not to be disclosed in order to protect the identity of the injured party.

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