A former care worker who regularly seriously assaulted a boy in an orphanage was also a victim of abuse at the same institution when a young boy, Waterford Circuit Court was told yesterday.
Patrick Murphy (59), single, Lower Beechwood Avenue, Ranelagh, Dublin, pleaded guilty to three sample counts of sexual assault on a 13-year-old boy at St Michael's orphanage, Cappoquin, Co Waterford in the early 1970s.
Murphy was working in a position of authority at the time.
The court heard the boy complained that he was brought to Murphy's room and told to remove his clothing from below the waist. He was told that he would be given an injection in the buttock with a syringe.
Murphy also went into the dormitory when the boy was asleep and masturbated in front of him.When the dormitories were changed to smaller rooms with four beds, the court was told that Murphy would bring the young boy to the laundry to sexually assault him.
The court heard that the boy suffered from mental health problems for most of his life and he only disclosed the abuse when he went for counselling in 1996. The court was also told that his life had been ruined by the sexual assault.
Mr Colman Cody, barrister for Murphy, said it was "gravely ironic" that Murphy had been a victim of sexual and physical abuse as a former resident of St Michael's, where he was brought as an infant and remained till the age of nine.
His client had co-operated fully with the Garda and made a full admission. Murphy, who also worked in other institutions in Ireland and Cork before moving to Kilkenny is currently serving a sentence at Arbour Hill prison. He received a six-year sentence at Dublin Circuit Court in 2002 for detaining a child for sexual exploitation and was due for release in May 2008.
He also has a previous conviction for child pornography for which he received at Cork Circuit Court in October a two-year sentence to run concurrently.
Judge Olive Buttimer sentenced Murphy to two years to run from May 2008, the release date of his other convictions. She ordered that he be placed on the register for sexual offenders for the rest of his life.
She took into account the guilty plea, his full co-operation and his suffering as a child. However, she could not ignore the level of abuse or that Murphy had been in a position of trust.
Judge Buttimer added that Murphy was to receive permanent supervision on release and was never to be unsupervised in the company of young children, as there was a very high risk of re-offending.
Leave to appeal was refused.