A Christian Brother and former teacher at the Wexford secondary school run by the religious order is the subject of a criminal investigation after historical allegations of clerical sexual abuse have come to light.
The man who is not originally from Wexford and currently resides in another county in Leinster has previously spoken out nationally denying allegations of child abuse within the Catholic Church.
A 43-year-old Wexford town native revealed to The Echo that he suffered abuse at the hands of the now retired teacher.
The claims date back to the 1980s and the abuse is alleged to have taken place daily over a week and a half when the boy, then aged 12, was asked to assist with maintenance work at the secondary school and on its grounds during the summer holidays.
The victim claims that every evening after he completed tasks such as painting and greasing the goalposts on the school pitch, the cleric would insist that the boy took a shower so as not to return home dirty.
The abuse allegedly occurred in the shower room.
Speaking to this newspaper, the victim spoke of the fear he experienced and how the abuse affected his emotional health.
“I could never tell my parents, or anyone. Like most families at the times, we were very Catholic. The priest would visit the house every Saturday evening. We all trusted priests and people in positions like that,” he said.
The man continued: “Instead, I put it to the back of my mind for a very long time, but eventually it caught up with me and I was brought back to that place of loneliness, upset and anger that he put me in all those years ago.”
The victim began self-harming, before eventually realising “things were getting out of control”.
He has since engaged in a counselling programme run by the organisation Towards Healing, which specialises in supporting victims of sexual abuse.
“I really hope that other victims who suffered at the hands of this man will find the courage to come forward and report it to the gardai.”
The victim is currently assisting garda detectives from the Criminal Investigations Bureau in Harcourt Street, Dublin, and a senior local garda who are leading the investigation.