Circuit Court Judge, Teacher, State Solicitor & Tipperary FF Councillor Jailed.

Former Thurles born Circuit Court Judge, teacher, Tipperary State Solicitor and Tipperary Fianna Fáil Councillor, Mr Gerard O’Brien has today been sentenced to four years in jail for the sexual assault of six boys, some 30 years previously.

Mr Gerard O’Brien, aged 59 years, had been a secondary school teacher Tipperary State Solicitor, and later a Fianna Fáil Tipperary Councillor, before subsequently becoming a judge.

He had been found guilty of one count of attempted rape and eight counts of sexual assault; which took place between 1991 and 1997, when the victims were aged between 17 and 24 years old. Four of the six boys were students or former students at that time from his school, Christian Brothers College (CBC) Monkstown, in south Co. Dublin.
Mr O’Brien was in his late twenties and early thirties at the time when these offences were committed. He had initially denied all the allegations, but was found guilty by a jury last December 2023.

The presiding judge stated that Mr O’Brien had misused his disability to take advantage of his victims, thus engaging in predatory behaviour and the jury had no doubt that he had manipulated matters to give him the opportunity to engage in these activities.

Mr O’Brien was born with the rare congenital condition, known as Phocomelia, which has resulted in him being born with no arms and only one leg; same injuries brought on by the congenital anomaly of the drug Thalidomide, brought into prominence as a characteristic side effect of the use of the drug, used during pregnancy. The court heard that O’Brien needed assistance dressing and undressing and visiting the toilet. To this end, Judge Alexander Owens had delayed sentencing in order to hear from prison authorities regarding the measures they could put in place to deal with O’Brien’s disabilities.

Prosecuting counsel Ms Anne-Marie Lawlor said O’Brien had developed inappropriate relationships with students, which involved giving them alcohol and taking them to the pub. The court heard there was a culture of excessive alcohol use around the school at the time.