The horrific stories of two men who were physically abused and one indecently assaulted while they were boys in the care of the Rosminian order in Clonmel, nearly thirty years ago, were told at a sitting of Clonmel Circuit Court. The abuses happened in St. Joseph’s School, Ferryhouse, at the hands of a religious brother, who later went on to become a priest but has since left the priesthood.
The court was told how one of the victims, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had his elbow broken during one incident dating back to the 1970’s, an injury which he claims never received proper treatment, and which to this day causes him severe pain.
A second victim of the former religious made a statement during the trial, asking the court to “give me back my life by removing him from society.’’ The victim, who also cannot be named, was supported by family members in the courtroom. He said he was sorry he could not bring himself to forgive the man who had abused him, and that he would have to live with it for the rest of his life.
John Masterson, (54) 144 Lohunda Downs, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, pleaded guilty to two charges of assault, one charge of assault causing bodily harm, and one charge of indecent assault, before Judge Joseph Mathews. He was convicted on all four charges and received, in total, a six year suspended jail term. Speaking to The Nationalist after the trial one of the victims expressed his disappointment with the leniency of sentence. The man and his wife, who had travelled from Cork for the court hearing, said that they were ‘stunned’ by the judgement and the fact the accused received a suspended sentence. “I thought he would be jailed,’’ the victim said.
The court was told that the offences were committed between November 1970 and October 1972, in the case of one of the victims and between May and September 1973 in the case of the second victim. Masterson left Ferryhouse after several years to pursue studies to become a priest, the court was told. He had since left the priesthood, and was later married. Masterson is now estranged from his wife. Judge Mathews said that the two men who had been abused by Masterson should not be described as victims, because of their courage in the face of their suffering. “I have to say I do not like the word victim to describe men of their calibre,’’ he said, “They are men of courage. I salute them.’’
Giving evidence to the court hearing, Clonmel based investigating sergeant Liam Corcoran said that he met with one of the victims in December 1997, and took a lengthy statement from him. The man described in detail the time he spent at Ferryhouse between 1973 and 1976, when he was aged from 14 years old to 17 years old. Brother Masterson was in charge of group B during that time, boys between 9 and 12 years.
WARNED NOT TO TELL ANYBODY
The man described to Sgt. Corcoran that about Easter in 1973, which was April that year, he had seen Masterson beating another boy. He intervened and was then beaten by Masterson himself. After the beating he was told by the Brother to go to his room. The boy was in the room for about ten minutes when Masterson arrived. He forcibly removed the boys’ clothes and then pushed him to the floor. Masterson took off his own clothes and lay on top of the boy and attempted to bugger him, Sgt. Corcoran told the court, but the victim resisted. Masterson then masturbated in front of the boy, later warning him not to tell anyone of the incident.
An incident following a swimming gala at the Ferryhouse swimming pool, during the summer of 1973, was also recalled by the victim in his statement to Sgt. Corcoran, which he relayed to the court. When the swimming meeting was over the victim and another boy were told to go to Masterson’s room for a prize. When they got there Masterson gave them loose fitting swimming costumes, and told them to put them on. The boys said no, which lead to Masterson beating the boy. The ordeal lasted 5 to 6 minutes, he told Sgt. Corcoran.
Sgt. Corcoran went on to tell the court of his interviews with the second victim who had received the arm injury as a boy in St. Joseph’s. He met this man, who lives in Cork, in May 1998. The man described for him the time he spent in St. Joseph’s between November 1970 and April 1973, from the ages of 12 to 15. On one occasion the boy ran away from the school, Sgt. Corcoran told the court. He didn’t get very far, going as far as the River Suir which runs through the grounds of the school. He lay down in the wet to avoid being detected, but was found and brought back to the school. He told Sgt. Corcoran that he had been put to bed in his wet clothes. The next day he was taken out of bed by Masterson and brought to a stone room where he was beaten with a strap, for running away. It was during this beating that the boy’s arm was injured. He received medical treatment at the school for this. After a few days he was taken to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Clonmel town, where he was told his elbow was broken and his arm was put in plaster. The injury never healed properly, the man had told Sgt. Corcoran.
Sgt. Corcoran told the court that the man had told him that his left arm was “wasted’’ compared to his right arm, and he could only use it to hold light things. He was in constant pain with the injury to this day. Evidence was also given to the court by Sgt. Corcoran of his initial interviews with the accused. On August 5 1998 the sergeant visited Masterson at his home and put to him the charges. Masterson made a statement admitting the assaults on the two victims. He remembered giving the swimming costumes to two boys but not the beating which followed, Sgt. Corcoran told the court.
The statement also included details of Masterson’s work in Ferryhouse, and how he had been looking after the boys 24 hours a day. He expressed remorse in the statement. Masterson was a boy in Ferryhouse before he returned to work there between 1968 and 1973, when he left to pursue his studies for the priesthood, the court was told by the sergeant. He was laicised in 1992, and is currently employed and living in Dublin.
100 TABLETS FOR THE PAIN
Giving details of a victim impact statement he had taken from the victim who had his arm injured, Sgt. Corcoran said that after a lifetime of living with his injury he felt that nothing could be done to fix the problem. He had to live his life as a onearmed man, he told the sergeant. As a young man he had wanted to follow a family tradition of joining the army, but he couldn’t because of his injury. He takes 100 paracetamol tablets a month to cope with the pain. The man also has difficulties attending church, Sgt. Corcoran said. As a young person he was religious, he had told the sergeant, but he has had difficulty trying to regain his faith. Two years ago he was unable to attend the funeral of his brother because he was not able to go into the church.
Defence Counsel for Masterson told the court that as a child his client had been a resident of St. Joseph’s, from eight years of age. His mother was unmarried and they lived in poverty in Kilkenny. Judge Mathews described the situation as one where as a boy Masterson was treated violently and grew up thinking that was the way. When Masterson returned to work in St. Joseph’s he was given no training at all, his defence counsel said. When Masterson had trained as a priest, in the early 1990’s he returned to Clonmel to work as a curate. When Sgt. Corcoran called to see Masterson he had a very mature conversation with him, his solicitor told the court. His client did not try to minimise what had happened or put any blame on the children.
Following the evidence in the case one of the men who had been a victim of Masterson in St. Joseph’s made a statement to the court. The man asked that the court not take into consideration that the accused was a priest but to consider the feelings of an innocent boy. “His education and position of power should have separated him from the evil, vile and demented criminals that perpetrate these sexual crimes. But the facts are that he did know the difference and still chose to inflict his reign of terror and sexual abuse on an innocent boy. I’m sorry for not being able to bring myself to forgive him.’’
Judge Mathews told the victim that he appreciated his courage in making the statement to the court. He said he saluted his courage. And that he and his wife had shown great fortitude in coming to the hearing. “I hope this is the beginning of the end of a sad past. I wish you every peace in the future,’’ The judge said that the crimes committed against the victims “Should never have happened.’’ Several character witnesses appeared in court on behalf of Masterson, Mr Sean Sweeney, who told the court he was a director of a property company in the UK, said that he had know Masterson for two years, and that he was aware of the nature of the charges against him. He described Masterson as being “absolutely and totally remorseful.’’ He admired his strength of character through the whole period, he said, and told Judge Mathews everybody in his social circle knew of the charges, and that he now counted only three people as his friends.
WORKED AS CURATE IN CLONMEL
James Keating, from Clonmel, said he had known Masterson when he worked as a curate in the busy St. Oliver’s parish, Clonmel, ten years ago. Masterson met Mr Keating, who was at that time the chairman of St. Mary’s Hurling Club, when Masterson coached the under 16 team. The team was very successful under Masterson’s coaching, Mr Keating told the court. There was never any hint or suggestion of any impropriety during his time as coach, and the boys had a tremendous respect for him. Mr Miles McPartland, a former student of Masterson, from Dublin, told the court that they had met in 1974 at a Rosminian school in Dublin where Masterson was involved in the training of the hurling team. “Never was there any suggestion of any impropriety with the boys,’’ he told the court, Miles McPartland said he believed some of those boys would not be here today without the hep Masterson had given them.
Taking the stand himself Masterson said that he was very remorseful about the things that he had done, and that he could not make any excuses, “I am terribly sorry for what happened..’’ The court was told by counsel for the accused that Masterson’s background was “very, very tragic,’’ in its own right, that his later life had been shaped by things that had happened to him. It was an important point that he ceased to be like that, and that since he left Ferryhouse he had not abused anybody. His client had educated himself and tried to become a respectable member of the society, his counsel said. When it became clear that things were not going the way they should be at St. Joseph’s Masterson moved on, defence counsel said. He was not somebody who set out to get pleasure out of hurting young boys. He had access to young people through hurling training and there was never any problem.
Handing down sentence to Masterson, Judge Mathews said that he had suffered greatly, and that the suffering he caused has caught up with him. It was a tribute to Masterson in one sense, he said, that he dealt with it. The case was obviously deeply sad, especially for the two victims, Judge Mathews said. It was sad that young boys that were vulnerable and needed affection and support got abuse. “The litany of sadness that keeps coming from our past is an ongoing trauma.’’ Masterson had a sad past, the Judge said, from being a child that was brutalised began to brutalise. No helping hand was extended to others, only a hurting hand. He was destined to become what he did become because he knew no other way, and he learned to live in a robotic automation way under the regime.
Judge Mathews said that he had to balance Masterson’s future with the past, and the gravity of offences against the offender with reference to the circumstances of his victims. He said that he had to and did take into account that this man had met his responsibilities, he didn’t hide, and he didn’t lie. He added that there was a potential in everyone for turning a corner.
FACED HIS DEMONS
Judge Mathews said that he was satisfied that Masterson had expressed what he believed to be true remorse, for which the court had to give credit. By this plea of guilty Masterson has faced his demons. Masterson’s sentence would be suspended imprisonment on condition that he had to avoid situations with young children, Judge Mathews said. On the first count of assault causing bodily harm Masterson was sentenced to three years imprisonment. On a charge of assault he received an additional one year imprisonment, to run concurrently. A prison term of three years was also imposed on a third charge, of indecent assault, to run consecutively, and one year imprisonment for a charge of assault, to run concurrently. All suspended. Masterson was ordered to keep the peace for the length of the suspended sentence, on £100 his own bond.
The sentence was described as “a sentence to reflect what is now past,’’ by the Judge.
Responding to a request from the accused’s counsel, the Judge said Masterson may continue to train hurling teams.
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