A STUDENT at Dublin's Terenure College told school authorities he was "disturbed" by online conversations he had with charity boss Michael Meegan in 2005. This complaint was investigated internally by the charity, it has emerged.

Meegan, a founder of charity International Community for Relief of Starvation and Suffering (Icross), lost a High Court bid last week to stop the Irish Mail on Sunday publishing an article alleging that he made inappropriate sexual advances to males in Kenya.

Meegan, a former pupil at Terenure College, gave a talk to students at the school in 2005 about his work. He then began to converse with one student online on msn but this young man made a complaint to the school about the conversations, according to affidavits lodged to the High Court and seen by the Sunday Tribune.

The school then informed Icross's board. It sought advice from a psychologist, who informed them the "exchange was inappropriate". In his affidavit, Meegan strongly refuted this.

Five men have claimed they were sexually assaulted by the charity boss in Kenya over a 20-year period. Some of these men withdrew their statements and said they were paid to make them. Meegan has claimed that a rival Kenyan charity has been conspiring against him. The Mail on Sunday has strenuously denied that it offered any of the alleged victims money in return for interviews.

Meegan was the subject of a glowing RTÉ documentary in 2005 and was awarded the Rehab/ESB International Man of the Year in 2003 for his charity work. His charity fundraisers have been supported by celebrities from Chris de Burgh to Britney Spears. De Burgh was unavailable for comment this weekend.

According to several affidavits by some of his former Kenyan employees, Meegan also allegedly paid his workers for letting him cane them for his own sexual pleasure.

He is also accused of skimming donor accounts to support his lifestyle and of flying gay partners from around the world to visit him using the money given to his Icross organisation.

In other affidavits, Meegan is accused of inappropriate sexual behaviour with some of his employees, both Kenyan and Irish.

Meriape Ole Sangaire was the first to allege that the charity boss sexually assaulted him. He made a complaint to the police about this in 1986.

According to a sworn affidavit from Dr Vincent Kenny, then a member of the Icross board, he travelled to Kenya in 1987 to investigate the matter. He established that the allegations were investigated by Kenyan police but a deal was then done under which Meegan escaped prosecution if he came back to Ireland and didn't return to Kenya. He agreed to leave but soon returned to Kenya. Dr Kenny later resigned from the charity. Meegan remains employed by Icross.