Former rugby coach jailed for four years for sexually abusing 22 boys

By Claire Henry

Former rugby coach John McClean has been handed four year prison sentence for the sexual abuse of 22 boys at Terenure College over a 20-year period.

John McClean (78) of Casimir Avenue, Harold’s Cross, Dublin, is currently serving an eight-year sentence, for abusing 23 Terenure College pupils.

The sentence was handed down in 2021.

Judge Martin Nolan today sentenced McClean to four years in prison which will run consecutively to his current prison sentence and will begin when that sentence is served in February 2027. McClean will be 84 years of age upon his release from prison.

In January, McClean affirmed guilty pleas to four counts of indecent assault relating to two boys during the 1980s.

This week McClean pleaded guilty to a further 23 counts of abusing 20 boys at the college between 1971 and 1992.

Most of the charges are of indecent assault, while two are of sexual assault, which was carried out against a student in the 1990s.

He has 96 previous convictions, all for indecent assault of young boys under the age of eighteen who attended Terenure College.

Passing sentence today, Judge Martin Nolan said, “this court has to deal with the abuse of boys under the accused’s care over a protracted period of time. There are 22 complainants in the case, with some of them having been abused on a single occasion and others were abused three, four, six, seven and up to eight times”.

Judge Nolan said, “Over a period of time, he abused these boys, he was a teacher and in a position of trust. He used that position to gratify his own needs”.

The judge said, “he had these boys in his power, and his behaviour had a long-term effect on the boys and third parties, and it seems from the evidence that I have heard that no one took any steps to stop the abuse”.

“He was determined and persistent and abused over a long period of time,” Judge Nolan said.

Judge Nolan said there was mitigation in this case, such as McClean’s guilty pleas, his expression of remorse, and the well-deserved public shaming the accused has gotten.

He also took into consideration McClean’s age and that he is serving a lengthy prison sentence.

Judge Nolan said he would have imposed a longer sentence on McClean if the defendant was not already serving a substantial sentence.

Judge Nolan said globally, McClean will be serving a 12-year sentence.

He finished by thanking the complainants who were present in court and who had watched the sentencing online via video link.

The court heard that two books of evidence were served, with 22 victims in total.

Any offences committed before 1990 are referred to as indecent assault. In 1991, a new act was introduced which changed the charge of indecent assault to sexual assault. The sentencing term available to judges also increased.

The court heard that there was a total of 53 counts within both books of evidence.

The sentencing terms were outlined to the court.

Counts one to fifteen carry a maximum of a five years prison sentence, counts sixteen to forty-one carry a maximum of a ten-year sentence, and counts forty-two to forty-nine carry a maximum five-year prison sentence with the remaining four counts carrying a maximum of a ten-year sentence.

A number of pupils whom McClean abused at Terenure College were present in court over the two-day hearing, with some joining the proceedings via video link from overseas.