21/11/2012

Indecent Assault Trial Of Nun Hears From Alleged Victims

In the ongoing trial of Sr Mary Theresa Grogan a now 45-year-old mother of two has spoken of her horror when she was trapped inside a school library with a the nun accused of indecent assault.

Grogan, who was known as Sr Peter when she taught at a primary school in the Midlands in the 1970s and 1980s, denies 63 charges of indecent assault against seven pupils between 1973 and 1977.

The witness told Sligo Circuit Court that she was bending over a press in the library when she looked around. Sr Peter was there and she pressed her against the wall and fondled her breasts.

"I thought, 'How am I going to get out of this?' She grabbed me and started fondling my breasts. I don't know how I got out," the woman told the court.

She went on to say that as a child she was a slow reader and that Sr Peter called her up in class to read out loud. The nun then put her hand down the child's pants, rubbing her bottom and moving round to the front, while the other children had their heads down on the desks after being instructed in Irish to go to sleep.

The trial, which was transferred to Sligo on a defence request from the Midlands town where the offences are alleged to have happened and is in its second week, continues.

(H)


Related Irish News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

25 January 2011
Paedophile Porn Cop Jailed
A former policeman in the North has been jailed after admitting possessing over 600 indecent images of children. Yesterday, Brian Wilfred Richard Connor, 46, from Knockloughrim near Magherafelt, was sentenced to six months in prison.
14 November 2012
Nun Faces 63 Indecent Assault Charges
A 62-year-old nun is on trial at Sligo Circuit Court charged with indecently assaulting pupils at a national school in the midlands in the 1970s. Sr Mary Theresa Grogan, formerly known as Sr Peter, has pleaded not guilty to 63 charges of indecently assaulting seven young girls, mostly in a classroom in the school between 1973 and 1977.
28 May 2014
Ombudsman Receives 90,000 Complaints In 30 Years
2014 marks 30 years since the establishment of an Ombudsman in Ireland and the Office has received nearly 90,000 complaints against public bodies since 1984. At the launch of his annual report for 2013 Ombudsman Peter Tyndall said that his Office had received 3,190 complaints in 2013.
20 July 2012
Arrest Warrant Issued For Nephew Of Sean Quinn
An arrest warrant has been issued for the arrest of businessman Sean Quinns nephew after he failed to appear in court. All efforts to contact Peter Darragh Quinn this morning were unsuccessful. Quinn, his son and Darragh were found to be in contempt of court in June this year.
14 October 2009
Robinson 'Wants More' On North's Devolution
Stormont First Minister Peter Robinson has said that he is looking for further 'clarification' from Prime Minister Gordon Brown about funding for the devolution of responsibility for policing and justice. Sinn Féin have accepted the deal but the DUP wants to go further.