Galway Bay fm newsroom - Prominent Galway businessman Paul Grealish says today's sentencing of his sex abuser Thomas Caulfield represents the end of a 50 year journey to justice.
The 60 year old is the owner of the King’s Head in the city, and has released the statement following the sentencing,
77-year-old former Christian Brother Thomas Caulfield has been sentenced to 27 months in prison with the final seven months suspended.
Thomas Caulfield of Castlerea, Roscommon, pleaded guilty to three sample charges of indecent assault of a 10-year-old in St Patrick's CBS National School in Tuam from September 1972 to May 1973.
In a statement issued following the sentence hearing Paul Grealish said that since Mr Caulfield’s conviction last December, and since he waived his anonymity, he has felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders.
He went on to say that he has been taken aback by the sheer number of people who have told him that they too have been directly affected by similar issues.
He said he welcomes the recently announced Enquiry into Historic Abuse and hopes it will give full insight into the extent of the unresolved trauma and the numbers of people suffering in silence.
He is urging anyone impacted by the issues raised by today’s conviction to talk to a family member or friend, or to reach out to one of the many support services available.
Paul Grealish has again called on the Christian Brothers to publicly explain why they allowed this abuse to happen to a 9 and 10 year old boy and why they denied all liability.
