The head of the childcare learning centre in Athlone Institute of Technology, Dr. Niall McElwee has resigned. It was recently discovered that he has been convicted of a sexual offence with a girl in the Netherlands in 2004.

I had heard of the name before and reached for Google for it is your friend – or enemy in the case of Dr. McElwee
Niall McElwee is the former head of Doras, a support group for child prostitutes.

He has a text forthcoming on At Risk Children and Youth, and has co-edited a text on applied social care.

He was an expert witness to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children on the levels of suicide amongst Irish youth.

US TV saw him as an expert on the Magdelene Laundries.

Consider the above information of interest to people. No further comment is necessary. I’m sure other organisations are conducting inquiries this weekend.

Update:

Today’s Irish Times has further information including quotes from Dr. McElwee.

Dr McElwee (40) said he “deeply regretted” the trauma he caused to four American tourists aged between 15 and 18 and had apologised to them in court.

“It was totally out of character for me. I was totally inebriated. It was very poor judgment. I didn’t know where I was quite literally,” he told The Irish Times yesterday.

Dr McElwee was convicted in September 2005 of two counts of attempted indecent assault. According to court documents, he propositioned one woman for sexual favours and got into bed semi-naked with another.

He was acquitted of four other charges by the Court of Amsterdam, including two against another woman, because the evidence was not proven. Dr McElwee, who lives in Athenry, Co Galway, was given a three-month suspended sentence, two years probation and was fined €3,500.

Update 2:

There is a discussion on some of the issues raised in this case in the comments here.

And all related discussion in this story on this blog can be found here.