A 75-year-old Franciscan friar has been charged with indecently assaulting a boy while he was spiritual advisor and a sports coach in Gormanston College.
Fr Ronald Bennett, a convicted child abuser, pleaded guilty to two sample charges at Trim Circuit Criminal Court.
The court was told that Fr Bennett summoned his victim to his room every week for two years. He would ask the boy if he knew how to seduce a girl before sexually assaulting his victim. The abuse ended in 1974.
Fr Bennett, who has an address at a Franciscan house in Killiney, Co Dublin, pleaded guilty to two sample charges of indecently assaulting his victim. He has already served a prison term for abusing four boys in the same College.
The victim, who cannot be named to protect his identity, told the court that the Franciscans were aware of Fr Bennett's abuse for years but did nothing to stop it.
Senior Counsel for the defendant, Hugh Hartnett, said his client was extremely remorseful for what he had done.
He said Fr Bennett was now subject to extremely restrictive measures by the Franciscan Order which in effect amounted to imprisonment in their house.
Judge Donagh McDonagh adjourned the case for a week to hear details from the Order's Superior.
