A jury could not agree on a verdict in the trial of a former Franciscan friar accused of indecent assault on a boy in Kerry almost 40 years ago.
59-year-old John Reck, with an address in Wexford, is charged with two counts of indecent assault on a boy in Killarney in the 1980s.
The jury in his trial deliberated for over six and a half hours, before telling Judge Sinead Behan they could not agree on a verdict.
John Reck, who was at the time a novice friar, is accused of indecent assault of a male under 15 in a changing room in the area of Áras Phádraig on a date between the 1 January 1985 and 30 March 1986.
Mr Reck also faces a second count of indecent assault on the same young boy in a bedroom at the Friary in Killarney within the same time period.
The trial heard evidence, including that of the alleged injured party, who is now a grown man.
The man cannot be identified at this juncture.
After deliberating for around three and a half hours, the jury was told by Judge Sinead Behan they could reach a majority verdict of ten to two, or eleven to one.
After a further hour and a half of deliberations, they asked the court if they could reach a majority verdict with fewer than ten of the twelve in agreement.
Judge Behan told them this option was not open to them, and invited them to consider the matter further.
Judge Behan later brought the jury in to tell them they could indicate a verdict of disagreement, meaning they could not reach a verdict of guilty or not guilty.
After six hours and 40 minutes of deliberations, the jury told Judge Sinead Behan they could not come to an agreement on either count.
This means the Director of Public Prosecutions will now have to decide whether to bring the matter to trial again, or to drop the charges.
Mr Reck was remanded in continuing custody to next Wednesday, May 15th.
