Former scout leader jailed for 11 years for sexual offences against young boys

By Chris McNulty

A predatory former scout leader from Donegal has been jailed for 11 years.

Martin Joseph, known as ‘Joe’ Cullen, was imprisoned for a series of sexual offences against young boys in Co Donegal.

Cullen, a 64-year-old of Colehill, Newtowncunningham, was jailed at Letterkenny Circuit Court by Judge Roderick Maguire.

Judge Maguire said Cullen’s actions were “predatory, abusive and manipulative” and left a “tragic and utterly devastating”  impact on his victims.

Their childhood, Judge Maguire said, has been “tarnished” by Cullen, but the judge said that the victims are “remarkable people who have suffered and continue to suffer.”

He expressed the hope that the sentencing would bring some measure of closure to the victims.

“I hope that they can live their lives no longer in the shadow of these crimes,” Judge Maguire said.

Cullen’s offending began when he was in his mid-30s and in most cases involved incidents against children of primary school age.

“These crimes were not an aberration,” Judge Maguire said. “This was characteristic and repeated offending by this man.”

Among the aggravating factors taken into consideration were the large age disparity, a “significant degree of intrusion” and, in relation to some charges, the fact that Cullen groomed his innocent young victims through showing pornography.

“A recurring theme was that gifts were promised,” Judge Maguire said. “The victims were of an age where they could be embarrassed or bribed into silence.”

Cullen stood in the dock with his hands behind his back as Judge Maguire delivered his judgement. The judge said that the “predatory and repeated nature” of the offending had to be marked by an element of a consecutive sentence.

Cullen has been in custody at Midlands Prison since July 2025 when he was found guilty, following a five-day trial, of seven counts of sexual assault against five young boys over a 14-year-period.

The offending occurred between 1993 and 2007 at locations in County Donegal and did not occur during the course of his role as a scout leader.

Cullen was also before the court on a charge of sexual exploitation after making another young boy watch him masturbate.

Cullen touched the boys, while he was also charged with showing some of the boys pornography on a phone and causing them to believe that he was likely to be subjected to such an impact. Some of the incidents occurred while he was engaged in various activities with the boys

One victim said he was “about seven or eight years old” when the offending began. The victim said he remembered Cullen telling him that he would buy him something new and this comment “was something that stuck with me for years”.

Another of the victims told how Cullen would shake hands tightly with them until they would say "I am your friend."

Old Nokia phone

Some of the complainants said they were between eight years old and 13 years old when Cullen showed them pornography on an old Nokia phone.

The witnesses told how it was only in later years that each discovered they had been sexually assaulted at various times by Cullen.

The mother of one of the victims told the court that when the incidents were disclosed, she did not tell her husband as he would have "gone mad." She said she also kept the incidents to herself as she did not think other people would believe them.

Another mother told the trial that she did not know what to do but that perhaps she should have gone to the authorities. She said: "I was hoping somebody else would tell but that it wouldn't have to be me."

A victim's sibling said Cullen would have been "touchy, feely" but she didn't realise at the time that it was wrong. The witness said she always thought that Cullen was just a "big child”. She said that she was not personally making a complaint against the accused as she did not remember anything specific happening to her.

Detective Garda Bobby Carey outlined the harrowing case to the Barrister for the State, Ms Fiona Crawford BL, and the court heard of one victim who was “in shock” as Cullen “laughed”

Another of Cullen’s victims informed detectives how he told Cullen several times: “Don’t ever touch me there again”.

One young boy “kept my eyes closed and curled up in a ball” after being sexually assaulted by Cullen.

In a victim impact statement, that victim said that what happened to him was “unimaginable” and left him feeling “numbed and scared”.

The victims told how they are still deeply affected by the offending. One outlined that he felt “guilt and anger that no young person should have to carry” and added: “What was taken from me, I will never get back. The impact is still felt today. I hope by speaking today that my voice is heard.”

In a victim impact statement which was read by Ms Crawford, another victim said that due to their experience with Cullen the word friend “almost became a bad thing”.

“I want to feel normal and whole again,” he said.

Another of Cullen’s victims said: “The whole thing made me question who I was in many ways. “It didn’t just affect me in a moment. It changed the direction of my life. It took away my sense of safety. I still feel the effects every day.”

Uncomfortable and powerless

A man sexually abused by Cullen when he was just seven or eight said he was “unsure” how he felt at the time, “but I knew it was wrong”, adding how he felt “uncomfortable and powerless”.

He said: “I can say that I am so happy that this predator can’t do this to anyone else. The world is a safer place with him locked up.”

Cullen entered a guilty plea in respect of a charge of child exploitation, relating to an offence between 2008 and 2010 at a location in Co Donegal where he forced a child to watch him masturbating.

The court heard that a jury was empanelled for this charge, but Cullen pleaded guilty as a trial was about to begin. While Cullen later indicated that he wished to change that plea, no application was made.

The court heard that Cullen asked sex-related questions of the teenager, who “felt very awkward and didn’t know what to think”.

Cullen masturbated in front of the boy on two occasions, leaving the child feeling “very awkward”.

In a victim impact statement, the man said: “I felt very vulnerable in a situation of not knowing what to do. “I felt completely taken advantage of.”

Cullen was first arrested at his home in December 2017 and questioned several times by detectives.

The investigation was conducted by Detective Garda Carey and Detective Garda Eoin Waters. During all interviews, Cullen denied that anything had happened with any of the complainants.

At one stage, Cullen said the accusations were false, and he told Gardaí: "I refuse to answer questions that I know nothing about."

The court heard that Cullen now accepts the verdict of the jury.

In a brief letter of apology, read to the court by barrister Mr Peter Nolan, Cullen said that he wished to “apologise for all that has happened and for all the pain and suffering it caused”.

Mr Nolan told the court that Cullen’s guilty plea in respect of the child exploitation charge “did save (the victim) the experience of having to be a witness and be cross-examined in open court”.

Mr Nolan said that Cullen, who has no previous convictions,“came to the insight eventually”.

Judge Maguire said that the absence of previous convictions was of “limited” value.

The judge said that the apology put forward by Cullen was also limited as it “did not show particular insight”, “the regret was general in nature” and “it came late in the day."

There were some heckles from the body of the courtroom as the convicted man was led away by prison officers, with one shouting at Cullen: “Rot in hell.”

If you have been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, you can call the national 24-hour Rape Crisis Helpline at 1800-77 8888, access text service and webchat options at drcc.ie/services/helpline/ or visit Rape Crisis Help. In the case of an emergency, always dial 999/112.