Walsh v. Byrne [2015] IEHC 414 (21 May 2015) involved sexual abuse of the plaintiff by the defendant over a 5-year period (plaintiff then aged between 11 and 16), involving ‘serious breach of trust by the defendant, for whom the plaintiff had great respect and relied on for advice and guidance’.

 

Per White J:

 

“22. In this case, the mental trauma suffered by the plaintiff, is not just confined to the acts of assault and battery, but arises also as a result of the consequences of the breach of trust of the defendant who had played such an important role in the plaintiff’s life. The court’s objective consideration of the purpose of the defendant’s kindness, concern and considerable investment of time, to the period when the abuse stopped was for the insidious purpose of satisfying his own sexual desire. For those reasons, it is appropriate to extend the law of tort, to cover what is now a well recognised and established pattern of wrongdoing, where a child is befriended, where trust is established and where that friendship and trust is used to perpetrate sexual abuse.

“23. The court would define this as a combination of behaviour by which a child is befriended, to gain his or her confidence and trust and which includes a process by which a person prepares a child, significant adults and the environment for the abuse.

“24. The behaviour can involve many acts of individual kindness, but with the aim of gaining access to the child and maintaining the child’s compliance with the abuse and secrecy to avoid disclosure.”

The opinion is here.

 

 

Steve Hedley

School of Law

University College Cork

 

9thlevel.ie

private-law-theory.org