Mr Justice O'Higgins found St Joseph's Industrial School, Kilkenny, guilty of negligence in relation to the abuse. He said the orphanage, "unfortunately and inexplicably" had failed to investigate complaints made about the alleged abuser, Myles Brady, now deceased.
Had action been taken on foot of the complaints made by Mr Edward Murphy, then an assistant to Brady, he would not have been in a position to abuse the plaintiff.
However, the judge held there was no vicarious liability on the part of the Minister for Education, who was also sued. In the particular circumstances of the case, the Minister could not be made liable for the assault, the judge said.
The judge assessed damages for assault and false imprisonment to encompass pain and suffering to date and into the future.
Without in any way diminishing the nastiness and seriousness of any sexual assault, the abuse incident was at the lowest end of the scale of sexual abuse, Mr Justice O'Higgins said.
However, the consequences of the assault were serious and had caused a great deal of suffering to the man over a long period.
Mr Justice O'Higgins said the man was a patently truthful witness who did not exaggerate his suffering or symptoms. The course of his adolescence was changed by the assault and he had suffered loneliness and isolation as a result of the assault and the feelings it evoked in him. It also had adverse effects on the development of his personality.
He suffered many bouts of depression, some very severe, which had been proven, on the balance of probabilities, to be attributable to the assault. While he was now free from symptoms, the possibility of further depression could not be ruled out.
At the opening of the case, Mr Patrick McCarthy SC, for the man, said the action had been taken in the High Court because his client could not sue through the Laffoy Commission's inquiry into child abuse as he was a visitor to the orphanage, not an inmate. The commission was geared to redress damage done to people who had resided in State institutions. The man, who is married and now lives in Spain, had sued the orphanage and the Minister for Education, who was entrusted with the supervision of industrial schools.
Mr Justice O'Higgins said the man had said he was not aware of the seriousness of the consequences of the abuse for many years.
Although he was aware he had psychiatric and psychological problems, he was not aware until 1996 that they were at least partly attributable to the assault, despite the fact that he had seen many doctors and psychologists prior to that time.
He noted that in 1976, another house parent was dismissed suddenly and was currently serving a prison sentence for sexually abusing some of the boys. Mr Brady was taken on as a house parent. Later, as a result of allegations made by boys, Mr Edward Murphy, who was an assistant to Brady, had confronted him but he denied the allegations.
Mr Murphy had then had a meeting with Sister Conception (manager of St Joseph's) and told her of the complaints of physical abuse.
Mr Murphy felt frustrated because he believed no action was going to be taken to deal with the complaints. His evidence was that on two occasions he passed on complaints about the conduct of Brady but did not know whether Sister Conception carried out any type of investigation.
At no stage did Mr Murphy suspect there was any sexual abuse being perpetrated by Brady. The conduct that caused him concern was the shouting and the physical abuse of boys. Such were Mr Murphy's concerns that he wrote to Sister Conception in early 1977 saying he was resigning. Sister Conception had taken issue with much of Mr Murphy's evidence, the judge said. She had no recollection of either of the two meetings at which, Mr Murphy said, he had told her of his concerns about Brady.
Her evidence was that she never received any complaint about Brady until she got Mr Murphy's letter.
The judge said he wished to emphasise that Sister Conception impressed the court as being an extremely truthful witness doing her utmost to assist the court.
Unfortunately, he was unable to find her evidence accurate in many respects. Mr Murphy had voiced his concerns about Brady's behaviour on two occasions prior to his letter of resignation. If an investigation had been undertaken on foot of that, it was highly likely it would have been ascertained that Brady was unsuitable for his position and the necessary action would have been taken.
If Sister Conception had inquired of the boys, it was highly probable they would have told her about their difficulties with Brady.
She undoubtedly would have taken action just as she did in the case of the other house parent. Brady would not have been in a position to abuse the plaintiff. Unfortunately and inexplicably, no such investigation took place. This lack of action constituted negligence.
Mr Justice O'Higgins said Sister Conception was a dedicated, committed person, who devoted much of her life to service of the poor and disadvantaged in a totally selfless manner.