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Judge found guilty of attempted rape and sexual assault while teacher in Dublin school

Gerry O’Brien (59) made no reaction when the jury returned the guilty verdicts in the Central Criminal Court today

Today at 16:43

A Circuit Court judge who was a form teacher in a Dublin secondary school has been found guilty of one count of attempted anal rape and eight counts of sexual assault against six complainants in the 1990s.

Gerry O’Brien (59) made no reaction when the jury returned the guilty verdicts in the Central Criminal Court today. The jury deliberated for 7 hours and 37 minutes.

The four-week trial came to its closing stages this week with Mr Justice Alexander Owens delivering his charge to the jury.

O’Brien of Old School House, Slievenamon Road, Thurles, Co. Tipperary had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of attempted anal rape and eight counts of sexual assault in relation to six complainants on dates between March 1991 and November 1997 at locations in Co. Dublin.

He was in his 30s at the time of the alleged offences, while the six complainants were then aged between 17 and 24.

During the trial, the court heard O’Brien was appointed a Circuit Court judge in 2015 and had worked as a solicitor for over 20 years before his appointment.

It was the prosecution case that the six complainants were “each and separately the victim of sexual misconduct” perpetrated by O’Brien between 1991 and 1997.

O’Brien was teaching in a secondary school at the time, and four of the complainants were students.