An 80 year old former national school principal. who “robbed his victims of their childhood” has received an 11 year sentence, with five years of it suspended at Ennis Circuit Court today, Wednesday.
Patrick Barry, of Well Road, Kilkee had pleaded not guilty to charges of indecently assaulting 11 women, who were pupils of his at Moyasta National School between 1964 and 1985.
Having been found guilty by a unanimous verdict by a jury last July on 59 counts of indecent assault Barry was sentenced by Judge Gerald Keys this week.
Judge Keys structured the sentence so that Barry received a year sentence on each count of indecent assault in respect of the abuse he caused to each victim. While these sentences were to be served concurrently he ordered they run consecutively to one another giving a total sentence of 11 years.
Judge Keys said he would suspend five years of the sentence given the mitigating factors in the case, which included the defendants age and health.
A condition of the sentence was that Barry enter a bond to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for a period of five years from the date of his release from prison.
A native of Ennis, Colin McGann has been editor of The Clare Champion since August 2020. Former editor of The Clare People, he is a journalism and communications graduate of Dublin Institute of Technology.