A 73-year-old former school teacher has denied 78 charges of indecently assaulting 13 boys at a Limerick school more than 30 years ago.
The accused – who cannot be named for legal reasons – is alleged to have carried out the assaults over a three-year period between September 1st, 1978 and June 30th, 1981.
It took the court registrar at Limerick Circuit Court 24 minutes to read out all the charges against the pensioner.
The 73-year-old replied ‘not guilty’ to each of the charges, which are alleged to have occurred over three separate school calendar years.
Cloakroom
The incidents are alleged to have happened in a classroom, cloakroom, corridor, boilerhouse and in a hallway of the school.
The indecent assaults included touching the genital areas both inside and outside the boys clothes, touching the buttocks and the alleged victims being forcibly kissed.
In one of the alleged incidents the schoolboy was made to stand in a cardboard box in the middle of a hall.
A jury of six women and six men have been sworn in for the trial at Limerick Circuit Court before Judge John Hannon which is expected to last until the the end of the month.