Nun Marie OGorman at Glasgow Sheiff Court where she pled guilty to historic abuse at Nazareth House(Image: Mike Gibbons)
Two nuns who beat children as young as three with belts and slippers at a Scottish orphanage have been spared jail.
Marie O’Gorman, 79, and Mary McGuire, 68, targeted seven victims who were under their care at Nazareth House in the Glashow’s Cardonald area between 1975 and 1981.
Both women appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday for sentencing after pleading guilty in February to multiple charges.
O’Gorman, who was known as Sister Mary Aelred to the children, entered the congregation of Sisters of Nazareth in 1963, was was tasked with looking after children in groups of 10 to 12.
During this time, she abused three children who were aged between three and 11 years old.
The court heard how she repeatedly struck the young children with items such as a harness, slipper and belt.
O’Gorman targeted one particular child who was forced to stand in a cold bath and poured water over her head if she had wet the bed.
She then humiliated the child further by forcing her to wear a nappy while walking around in front of others. The nun also abused a second child while he was in the bath.
Mary McGuire avoided jail at Glasgow Sheriff Court. (Image: Mike Gibbons)
McGuire, who entered the congregation in 1975, was known as Sister Maria Bernadette to the children.
She admitted abusing five children, aged between five and 12, by striking them with items including a slipper, a leather belt and a wooden hairbrush.
In one brutal attack, a child was injured after the belt buckle struck her eye and left her with a bruise.
Both nuns were made subject to probation orders on Wednesday, March 25.
McGuire, of Fife, was placed under supervision for two years and ordered to perform 225 hours of unpaid work within the next 12 months.
O’Gorman, of Dublin, was also placed under supervision for the same period.
Nazareth House in Cardonald, Glasgow
Both women were ordered to pay £1000 compensation to each of their victims.
This is the latest case of historic abuse involving nuns from the Sisters of Nazareth.
Carol Buirds, 75, was sentenced in January alongside Eileen McElhinney, 78, and Dorothy Kane, 68, for the horrific abuse of children that took place at two homes in Lasswade and Kilmarnock, between 1972 and 1981.
Carol Buirds(Image: Alexander Lawrie)
Buirds, of Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, was caged for 15 months. McElhinney, of Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, was made subject to a 12-month Probation Order and ordered to perform 240 hours of unpaid work.
Evil Eileen McElhinney(Image: Crown Office)
Procurator Fiscal Fraser Gibson, of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, said: “Marie O’Gorman and Mary McGuire were trusted to care for vulnerable children who had almost no support and relied entirely on the adults around them for safety and compassion.
“Instead of offering that care, they caused them profound and lasting harm. It is now a matter of public record that, while working at Nazareth House, both individuals gravely abused the authority and trust placed in them
“Their offending may have taken place several decades ago, but this type of abuse has never been acceptable and should not have happened.
“The Crown treats all allegations of non‑recent child abuse with the utmost seriousness, and no matter how much time has passed, we remain committed to ensuring survivors are heard and perpetrators held accountable.”
