Former rugby coach who is serving a prison sentence for the abuse of 45 boys is convicted of abusing another four boys 

By Eimear Dodd  

Former rugby coach John McClean, who is serving a prison sentence for the abuse of 45 boys, has been convicted of abusing another four teenagers.  

The former teacher at Terenure College is currently serving a global sentence of 10 and a half years for his offending against 45 boys, all of whom were students at the Dublin secondary school.  

McClean (80) formerly of Casimir Avenue, Harold’s Cross, Co. Dublin pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to seven counts of indecently assaulting four boys between 1973 and 1990 at Terenure College.  

These men wish to retain their anonymity, but are happy for McClean to be named.  

Detective Sergeant Charlie Dempsey told Paul Murray SC prosecuting, that these four complainants contacted gardai following press coverage of McClean’s other convictions.  

McClean taught at the Dublin school between 1966 and 1996, becoming first year form master in 1980.  

He was also a rugby coach, and had the nickname of  ‘Doc’, because students would often go to him if they had an injury.  

 He was handed an 11-year sentence with the final three years suspended in 2021 for the sexual abuse of 22 teenage boys.  

 In 2023 McClean received a consecutive four-year sentence in relation to a further 23 complainants.  

This sentence was appealed to the Court of Appeal, which reduced it to two and a half years.  

 This meant that McClean is serving an overall sentence of 10 and a half years in respect of his global offending against these 45 victims.  

Defence counsel Sean Guerin SC submitted that the Court of Appeal’s ruling outlined an assessment of a global sentence range to reflect his client’s offending, taking into account the principles of totality and proportionality.  

 He suggested a concurrent sentence could be imposed as punishment in relation to these four complainants, as McClean’s offending in these cases falls within the spectrum of his other offending and occurred in the same time period.  

 Yesterday, McClean was handed a two-year sentence, which will run consecutively to the 11 year sentence with the final three years suspended, which was imposed in 2021.  

This means that McClean, who appeared in court via video-link from Midlands Prison, will not spend any extra time in custody in respect of his offending against the four most recent complainants.    

 One of the four men told gardai he believed McClean preyed on him opportunistically.  

This victim said McClean abused his position, was a good teacher and coach, but also a “very nasty piece of work”.  

 Another of the men read his victim impact statement to the court.  

He said he felt a sense of relief and that a “weight of shame” had been lifted from him.  

He said he had carried feelings of shame and anger towards himself for too long.  

He outlined the impact on his education, noting he was “robbed of self-worth by a representative of an institution that should have protected me”.   

He said he is beginning to feel at peace with the support of his family, and can move on as “justice has been served”.    

Two further victim impact statements were handed into court, but not read aloud.    

Det Sgt Dempsey agreed with Mr Guerin that this offending was on the same spectrum as McClean’s previous offending and occurred around the same time.  

McClean has a number of health issues including cancer and cardiac difficulties.  

A number of medical reports, several references and other materials were handed into court.  

Mr Guerin said his client is apologetic and has accepted responsibility for his offending.  

Judge Martin Nolan said McClean was in a position of trust and “took advantage of his position to molest and sexually assault these particular pupils”.  

He said that McClean had pleaded guilty on previous occasions to other sexual offending and the Court of Appeal had indicated an appropriate sentencing range of eight-and-a-half to ten-and-a-half years for his “global misbehaviour” against all of the boys.