Catholic brother and school principal, 80, who sexually abused five boys is jailed for nine months

A former school principal who sexually assaulted five boys at a Catholic school in Victoria has been sentenced to just nine months in jail.

Marist brother Gerard McNamara pleaded guilty in July this year to molesting the school boys between 1970 and 1975 at St. Paul’s Catholic College in Traralgon.

The 80-year-old sports master and principal assaulted his victims on a massage bench in a sports shed, under the pretence that he was healing their injuries.

A former school principal – Gerard McNamara, 80 – who sexually assaulted five boys at a Catholic school in Victoria in the 1970s has been sentenced to just nine months in jail

The boys were aged between 12 and 15 years old and one boy was said to have been assaulted 30 times, 9NEWS reports.

County Court Judge Duncan Allen called McNamara’s actions ‘abhorrent, repulsive and disgusting’ and initially sentenced the former teacher to 36 months in jail.

‘You were a highly respected member of a religious order and you were in a position of trust and dominance, you were trusted by the parents of these children and the community,’ Judge Allen said.

However, given McNamara’s age, health and low likelihood of re-offending, Judge Allen suspended most of his term, meaning the former teacher will serve just nine months.

One of McNamara’s victims – known as ‘Michael’ – is now a spokesperson for child sex abuse victims and has slammed the jail sentence, calling it ‘tokenistic’ and ‘appalling’.

McNamara was convicted of seven counts of indecent assault to a male under 16 years old back in June 2005, and 11 years later he was convicted of three further counts of indecent assault.

‘This is the fourth time this sick monster has been criminally charged and the sum total….is nine month’s jail time,’ Michael told reporters.

A judge called McNamara’s actions ‘abhorrent, repulsive and disgusting’ and initially sentenced him to 36 months in jail – but given McNamara’s age, health and low likelihood of re-offending, the judge suspended most of his term, meaning he will now serve just nine months

‘That is just ridiculous.’

Another victim, however, said that now McNamara was behind bars, he finally felt closure.

‘At school he was known as a rat, because he acted like a rat – now he’s with the rats in jail,’ he said.

‘Every kid knew if you got taken into that room, what would happen in there.’

McNamara’s actions had a lasting impact on many, with the same victim saying that the Marist brother would lie to parents, causing them to distrust their own children.

‘It destroyed the relationship between my mother and myself,’ he said.

McNamara was convicted of seven counts of indecent assault to a male under 16 years old back in June 2005, and 11 years later was convicted of three further counts of indecent assault

‘She died recently and we never recovered from it.’

McNamara has been put on the register of serious sexual offenders for life and during the hearing in July, he apologised to his victims.

‘I am deeply sorry for the hurt and harm I have caused each of you,’ he said.

He also said that he was ‘made aware of the gravity of my behaviour and the impact it has had on your life’.  

Judge Allen condemned the ‘awful culture’ that existed at Marist schools of the era. 

‘Thank goodness it has finally changed, but not before so many people have suffered so much,’ he said. 

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk