Kildare man Dillon Gaffney will reportedly serve up to eight years in prison sentences and be placed on the sex offenders list.
An Irish teacher was handed down six different sentences at a Texas court. The sentences will run concurrently, potentially leaving him behind bars until 2025.
Dillon Gaffney pleaded guilty to all six charges presented to him when he appeared in court last month.
Gaffney worked as a football coach and social studies teacher at Palacios High School in Texas between 2015 and 2016.
District Attorney Steven Reis said Gaffney was convicted on three counts for improper relationship with a student and on three charges of sexual assault of a child.
The educator and coach was originally charged with one count of improper relationship with a student during his time at Palacios ISD, before two more students came forward. By the time students had come forward, Gaffney had been instated as Head Coach of the girl’s soccer team at nearby Huntsville High School.
"It doesn't matter if someone is of age or not, it is not permitted for an educator to have a relationship with a student," Lt. Jim Barnes, of the Huntsville Police Department, told the Huntsville Item at the time.
"These aren't always cases where something just happens. Often, time passes while the student receives counseling and comes to terms with what happened to them."
According to the Irish Independent, the Irishman was initially arrested in August 2017 and he was detained in Matagorda County Jail under $375,000 (€318,000) bond.
According to police reports, Dillon Gaffney was arrested on an out of county warrant out of Matagorda County.
Posted by KBTX Media on Tuesday, 4 July 2017
It is understood that Gaffney originally travelled from Ireland to the US on a soccer scholarship.
The disgraced school teacher was also fined $10,000 (€8,500) for one of the three Improper Relationship Between Educator and Student convictions and was placed on the registered list of sex offenders.
According to sources, he may be eligible for parole by August 2021, although he is not due to be released from prison until August 2025.
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