A former Christian Brother and teacher serving a prison sentence for indecently assaulting eight boys in a Dublin school in the 1970s has been told he will spend an extra year in custody for the abuse of two more young boys.
Jack Manning (89) pleaded guilty to four counts of indecently assaulting two boys at CBS Westland Row, Dublin 2, on dates between July, 1972 and June, 1974.
Manning, with a former address of a nursing home in Blanchardstown, Dublin, was a teacher at CBS Westland Row at the time of his offending. The victims were aged between seven and eight.
Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Manning has 22 previous convictions and is currently serving a four-year sentence, imposed last March, for the indecent assault of eight boys between 1973 and 1974. His earliest release date is March, 2028.
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Manning also received a three-year sentence in 2021 for the indecent assault of four boys on dates between 1972 and 1973. These boys were also pupils at CBS Westland Row.
Lisa Dempsey BL, prosecuting, told the court the two victims in this case wish to retain their anonymity and nothing should be published which may identify them.
Evidence was heard that both complainants were pupils in the school at the time. The abuse was similar in nature and involved Manning calling each of the two boys to the top of the class, then indecently assaulting them while correcting their homework.
Manning pleaded guilty to three counts of indecently assaulting the first boy and one of indecently assaulting the second boy, the court was told.
Imposing sentence on Monday, Judge Martin Nolan noted Manning held a position of trust, which he betrayed and that the two boys were in his care at the time of the offending.
He said the impact on both victims was significant and both men have “carried trauma and some burdens as a result of his behaviour”.
The judge noted that any sentence imposed must be proportionate and not crushing.
Judge Nolan said he would extend Manning’s time in prison, imposing a one-year sentence to run consecutive to the sentence Manning is currently serving.
“I think there has to be some extra time for extra bad behaviour,” the judge said, noting he would have imposed a more substantial sentence if only dealing with these two complainants.
In a victim-impact statement, the first victim said he was a survivor of abuse at the hands of Manning, who was “supposedly a Christian Brother”, but didn’t “deserve that title”.
He described experiencing immense hurt and “longstanding trauma”. He said he developed trust issues and the abuse has had a long-lasting impact on his relationships.
Reading his victim-impact statement, the second victim said he went to gardaí after the publication of the Scoping Inquiry into historical sexual abuse in schools run by religious orders and an appeal made by the Garda Commissioner.
“I feel strongly that my school and the relevant religious and State authorities failed in their duties to protect me and classmates,” he said.
He expressed his gratitude to the gardaí and his family. He also thanked “the courageous men from Westland Row who came forward and made it easier for me”.
Manning joined the Christian Brothers in 1950 when he was 14 and taught in schools in Tralee, Co Kerry, in Cashel, Co Tipperary and in Westland Row until 1976, when he left the order and married.
