Judge convicted of sexual assault will still receive pension
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Judge Gerard O’Brien will receive a judicial pension from the age of 65 despite resigning from the Circuit Court bench following his conviction for attempted rape and sexual assault, according to reports.
His resignation came after the Attorney General was asked to advise the government and Oireachtas on their options following his conviction, as no sitting judge has ever been removed from office in the history of the State.
He was convicted in late December of sexually abusing six men between 1991 and 1997 while working as a Dublin schoolteacher. The victims, some of whom were his students, were aged between 17 and 24 at the time, while he was in his 30s.
He is due to be sentenced on 4 March and has not yet indicated whether he intends to appeal against his conviction.
The Irish Times reports that the former judge, aged 59, will receive his judicial pension from the age of 65 as no mechanism exists in law to withhold or refuse it.
He will however not receive the highest possible pension payment as he only served on the bench for nine years.
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