Cork Scout Leader Jailed for Sex Offences

Former scout leader David Barry (72) was jailed for five years on Thursday, June 24th, after admitting a series of sexual assaults against 10 teenage boys between 1986 and 2008.

Despite complaints going back many years, Barry had been an active member of Scouting Ireland until as recently as 2018.

Judge Sean O'Donnabhain said that Barry had breached every possible concept of trust with his abuse of innocent children.

The court heard how Barry would have boys aged 13-17 stay over at his house, where he plied them with alcohol and made them watch pornographic films before physically abusing the boys in his bedroom and shower.

Detective Garda Gary Duggan said that as Cork Commissioner of the now defunct Catholic Boy Scouts of Ireland, Barry "had the perfect cover story for parents to entrust children into his care."

Speaking on RTÉ's Prime Time, a survivor recalled his experiences in Barry's home. "There would have been inappropriate touching, fondling, showering with kids. He was fully naked going into the shower with three teenage kids. That was something that he did on a regular basis."

Barry's actions first came to light when a mother complained to Togher scouts about the scout leader assaulting her son in a "hazing" incident at his home. Despite being reprimanded, Barry was allowed to remain in his position. In 1999, another complaint was lodged against Barry, advising against him taking a scout group on a trip to the US. He was eventually arrested in 2018.