Teacher and church leader sentenced for communicating with young boys for sexual gratification
dailyrecord.co.ukA teacher and church youth group leader who communicated with two young boys for sexual gratification has been put on a three-year Probation Order.William Maher, 36, was also made the subject of a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and will spend the same period of time on the Sexual Offences Register at Belfast Crown Court today, Friday, May 17.
He admitted contacting one of the children via the youngster’s Instagram account on dates between May 6 and 25, 2022, whilst he engaged in sexual conversations with the second child on dates between August 20, 2018 and July 1, 2019, reports Belfast Live.Maher spoke about masturbation with both boys whilst he asked one about watching porn, he talked about about wet dreams with the another.
Maher, from Kings Brae in Belfast, kept his head bowed in the dock for a majority of the sentencing hearing. His barrister Michael Boyd revealed that while he is still technically employed as a primary school teacher, he will be “dismissed at the conclusion of these proceedings and his career as a teacher is well and truly over”.Maher’s offending emerged when the mother of a 13-year old boy discovered messages between the teenager and the teacher on her son’s Instagram account.The woman noticed her son had been acting suspiciously with his mobile telephone and would not let her look at it.
The teen eventually relented and she when looked through his apps, she discovered the messages. She reported the matter to police and said she had trusted Maher as he had taught in her son’s primary school.
Read more on dailyrecord.co.uk