Marie O’Gorman and Mary McGuire targeted seven victims who were under their care at Nazareth House between 1975 and 1981
Two former nuns who subjected children as young as three to physical abuse using belts and slippers at a Scottish children’s home have avoided prison sentences.
Marie O’Gorman, 79, and Mary McGuire, 68, assaulted seven youngsters in their care at Nazareth House in Glasgow’s Cardonald district between 1975 and 1981. The pair appeared before Glasgow Sheriff Court on Wednesday for sentencing, having admitted guilt to multiple charges in February.
O’Gorman, known to the children as Sister Mary Aelred, joined the Sisters of Nazareth congregation in 1963 and was responsible for supervising groups of 10 to 12 children. Throughout her time there, she mistreated three youngsters aged between three and 11 years old, reports the Daily Record.
The court was told she repeatedly hit the children with objects including a harness, slipper and belt. One victim suffered particularly cruel treatment, being made to stand in a cold bath while O’Gorman poured water over her head as punishment for bedwetting.
The child’s ordeal continued as she was then forced to wear a nappy and parade in front of others. O’Gorman also attacked a second child while he was bathing. McGuire, who joined the congregation in 1975, was known to the children as Sister Maria Bernadette.
She confessed to assaulting five youngsters, aged between five and 12, hitting them with objects such as a slipper, a leather belt and a wooden hairbrush. During one particularly vicious incident, a child sustained an injury when the belt buckle struck her eye, leaving her bruised. Both nuns received probation orders on Wednesday, March 25.
McGuire, from Fife, was put under supervision for two years and instructed to complete 225 hours of unpaid work over the next 12 months. O’Gorman, from Dublin, was similarly put under supervision for the same duration.
Each woman was instructed to pay £1,000 compensation to every one of their victims. This represents the most recent case of historical abuse involving nuns from the Sisters of Nazareth.
Carol Buirds, 75, received her sentence in January along with Eileen McElhinney, 78, and Dorothy Kane, 68, for the appalling abuse of children that occurred at two homes in Lasswade and Kilmarnock, spanning 1972 to 1981. Buirds, from Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, was jailed for 15 months. McElhinney, from Bishopbriggs, East Dunbartonshire, received a 12-month Probation Order and was instructed to complete 240 hours of unpaid work.
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Procurator Fiscal Fraser Gibson, from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, stated: “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.”


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