Two more men yesterday gave evidence of being sexually abused by a Christian Brother in a Galway industrial school some 40 years ago.
The 72-year-old ex-Christian Brother has pleaded not guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to 35 counts of indecently assaulting the boys between 1967 and 1973 when they were residents at the school.
Detective Garda Mick Moran also read a statement of interview of the accused denying abuse of the boys and stating he believed someone was "orchestrating" the complainants.
A 48-year-old Offaly man, who was sent to the school at six yearsold because his mother suffered from post-natal depression, told prosecuting counsel, Mr Enna Mulloy SC, he was called into a sports shed by the accused during a hurling match.
He said the Brother started smiling and threw him down before jumping on top of him and "feeling" his genitals. He claimed the accused was muttering to himself as he kissed his neck and rubbed his private parts.
The witness described his time at the school as "three years of constant violence" at the accused's hands, which made him, feel "frightened, helpless, rotten".
Another 48-year-old former pupil said he was abused by the Brother "ten or twelve times". He described asking for new shoes and been taken into the clothing store where the accused attempted to masturbate him. He said he asked him to stop several times and that the pain became "unbearable".
Asked why he never alerted anyone to the abuse he said: "It was the type of place where you couldn't complain to anyone. You'd get a hiding and they'd say you were lying."
Defence counsel, Mr Hugh Hartnett SC suggested there were large inconsistencies with his evidence given in court and a statement he made to police. Mr Hartnett said he had told police the sexual abuse occurred "some 600 times" as opposed to "ten or twelve".
The witness stated that the "600 times" referred to physical and sexual abuse whereas in court he was talking about just sexual abuse.
Det Gda Moran told Mr Mulloy the accused told gardai he had never abused the boys and called the allegations "horrific".
"They are obviously being orchestrated by someone. They are so vicious, it's sick to listen to."
He also denied an accusation that he sent a boy home from the school weeks before his Group Certificate because the boy had tried to fight him off. He told gardai he would have had no authority to send a pupil home.
The trial continues before Judge Tony Hunt with the jury of five men and five women.
