Former teacher jailed for abuse of 19 boys
A former schoolteacher who sexually abused 19 young boys in Donegal over 25 years has been jailed for six-and-a-half years.
Patrick Sharkey, now 83, stood emotionless in the dock as he was put behind bars for a total of 132 charges on Thursday.
Some victims waved at their attacker as he was led away by prison officers.
Sharkey, originally from the Clonmany area in Donegal and most recently with an address in Belfast, abused his victims in Co Donegal over a period from 1970 to 1995 - during which time he was a teacher at St Joseph’s High School in Coleraine.
Many of the victims were students at the school when Sharkey preyed on them, with one victim just seven years of age when the abuse began.
In sentencing Sharkey at Donegal Circuit Court, Judge John Aylmer said the offending, which he described as “very invasive”, represented “a gross breach of trust on all occasions”.
Judge Aylmer said that a further aggravating feature was the length, the extended period of time and...
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