Ex-teacher jailed over sex offences left child 'crippled with anxiety'

A former teacher jailed over child sex offences transformed one of his victims from a confident child into one "crippled with anxiety", a court has heard.

William Maher, 37, of Kings Brae in Belfast, was given a two-year sentence, with half to be served in prison and half out on licence, after admitting three charges of inciting two different children under the age of 13 into sexual activity.

He also admitted three charges of sexual communication with a child against two children.

The court heard a victim impact statement from the mother of one of his victims, which said the child was often "tearful and trembling" but "unable to articulate distress".

Belfast Crown Court heard Maher taught at a primary school in east Belfast at the time the offences took place.

The mother of one victim told BBC News NI after the hearing that no sentence would "compensate for the trauma and the damage that man has done to our family".

She told the court in the statement that her child failed their transfer test and she was "convinced this was because of the abuse" they suffered.

"The impact compounded onto my marriage. Guilt, blame, helplessness suffered by us as parents as well as justifiable anger and rage."

She said she was "acutely aware" of educating her children on the dangers of strangers, both face-to-face and online, but that she never told her child to be wary of their teacher.

"Teachers in society are deemed safe and indeed people that you should rely on and trust," she said.

The father of the other victim said he had been concerned Maher "would not be given an immediate custodial sentence".

"So I guess relief that on the one hand justice has been seen to be done, but also Mr Maher is in a situation where he cannot harm any other young people," he added.

The judge told the court that Maher's offending "constituted a significant breach of trust".

He added: "I have no doubt that your offending in this case has caused considerable harm both to your victims directly, but also to a vary of other people in a variety of different ways."

The court heard last year Maher received a three-year probation order after pleading guilty to sexual communication with two children.

He was also made the subject of a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order (SOPO) at the time.

The judge on Monday handed Maher a further SOPO, which includes the condition that he is not to have any contact with the victims in the case.

He will also spend 10 years on the sex offenders register.

Police were first contacted by the father of one of the two children.

When interviewed, the child told police Maher had behaved inappropriately.

Police were told that Maher exchanged notes with the pupils - some asked about their favourite TV shows but others related to sexual content.

The victim said that on one occasion Maher handed over a note saying to them to go to a storeroom and, once inside, Maher showed the pupil his pubic hair.

Maher also discussed sexual issues such as masturbation via the notes.

When questioned, he initially denied the notes contained any sexual content and denied any offending against the pupils.

Maher maintained this stance until March when he pleaded guilty.

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) Det Con Eszter Aszmann said Maher had "preyed on the innocence of his extremely young victims".

"It is often incredibly difficult for young children, to raise the alarm when an adult they trust targets them in such a way.

"I would like to acknowledge the bravery of these young victims and thank the parents for their unwavering support in helping us to bring Maher before the courts."