A teacher and church youth group leader who communicated with two young boys for sexual gratification has been placed under a three-year Probation Order.
William Maher 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.
He admitted contacting one of his young victims via an 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.
Belfast Crown Court heard that the contents of Maher’s messages and comments were sexually explicit.
The 36-year old, from Kings Brae in Belfast, kept his head bowed in the dock of Belfast Crown Court for a majority of Friday’s sentence hearing.
His barrister Michael Boyd said that whilst Maher 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 Maher on her son’s Instagram account.
She noticed her son had been acting suspiciously with his mobile and would not let her look at it.
He eventually relented and she when looked through his apps, she discovered the messages. She reported the matter to police.
The teen also told police Maher also tried to FaceTime him on three occasions but he had not answered.
The second victim was aged 11 when Maher embarked on sexual conversations with him.
Maher knew this boy’s family through a church connection. The boy’s father noticed he had not seen the defendant at the church, and when he discovered there was an ongoing police investigation, he believed this could be connected to his son.
The boy’s father - who at the time raised concerns to Maher about the inappropriate conversations he had had with his son in 2018/19 - contacted the PSNI and as a result the second boy was spoken to by police in November 2022.
Judge Philip Gilpin said he had read statements made by the parents of both young victims which spoke of the breaches of trust.
The 13-year old boy’s mother said when she saw the nature of the messages on her son’s social media, her heart was ‘shattered.’
She also revealed her son is now struggling with his mental health, is awaiting counselling and is a ‘different child’ due to Maher’s offending.
The parents of the 11-year old boy spoke of their son experiencing intrusive thoughts and he too requires counselling.
Defence barrister Michael Boyd told Judge Gilpin his client has lost his career as a teacher and has been ostracised by the church.
He added that Maher has had issued with mental health, has completed 12 sessions of CBT and now recognises the harm his actions have caused to the two young boys.
After imposing his sentence, Judge Gilpin told Maher that the terms of the court orders mean he will be banned from working with children or vulnerable adults and will have to attend programmes designed to address sexually abusive behaviour.