Shamed judge will still get full pension
‘No way to stop perv getting payout at 65’
A FORMER judge convicted of sexual assault and attempted rape will receive a full judicial pension from the age of 65, officials have confirmed.
Gerard O’brien, 59, resigned from the Circuit Court bench on January 5, a fortnight after he was found guilty of the attacks when he was a teacher.
He quit just days after Justice Minister Helen Mcentee said she had sought the Attorney General’s advice on his position following his conviction.
But it’s since emerged he will be eligible to claim his full pension on his judge’s salary of €178,000 despite his resignation. A spokesman for Ms Mcentee told the Irish Sunday Mirror the department “does not comment on individual cases”. However, he confirmed there is no legal mechanism in place to prevent the disgraced ex judge from receiving his pension. He added: “The pension entitlements of judges are regulated by legislation which is the responsibility of the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. “There is no legal provision for pensions to be withheld or refused.” Ms Mcentee accepted O’brien’s resignation last week and conveyed it to President Michael D Higgins as required by the Courts Act.
The spokesman said: “The minister will be making no further comment on this matter prior to the court finalising the case by sentencing.”
It emerged last week that O’brien, who was born with no hands and one foot, was paid his judge’s salary for 30 months after he was charged.
He was convicted in late December of sexually abusing six men between 1991 and 1997 while working as a teacher at a Dublin secondary school.
O’brien is due to be sentenced on 4 March and has not yet indicated whether he intends to appeal against his conviction.