A decade spent grooming girls for sexual abuse

WILLIAM “Billy” O’Brien spent 10 years grooming young girls and sexually abusing them in his house.

Sometimes he sexually assaulted two girls at one time. By his own admission, O’Brien lost interest in the girls when they reached the age of about 12 and moved on to groom a younger sister for abuse or else transferred his attention to a family with younger daughters.

Detective Sergeant Seán Leahy told Judge Patrick J Moran at Cork Circuit Criminal Court how the 10 years of sexual abuse came to light. One of the victims saw a new family with two young daughters moving to the area and she saw O’Brien befriending this family.

“She believed what happened to her was going to happen to the two girls. But for the fact that she approached the mother of the two girls, who in turn approached the gardaí, it would not have come to light. She has to be thanked,” said the detective.

A total of eight victims came forward and made statements to the gardaí describing what happened to them when they were enticed to O’Brien’s house.

The defendant was trusted by the victims’ families by virtue of doing handyman jobs in their houses. He had a PlayStation in his own house and a press that he called the sweet shop as it was full of sweets and crisps.

He would sit the girls on his lap and touch them on the breasts and vagina and sometimes get them to touch his exposed penis, all the time telling them what he was about to do with them and that it was a secret. One of his mannerisms was to sniff repeatedly during the assaults.

One victim told the court yesterday: “I hated that Billy recorded us and kept tapes of what he did to us and I didn’t have a clue he was doing it. I hate him for it. I hate the fact that he had the power. I hate the fact he had control over me, of what I could and couldn’t say. I hate the fact that I had to cry every night. I hate the fact that I felt worthless to everyone. I hate the fact that he was ‘good with his hands’ and most of all, I hate his sniffing.

“I now hope the tables have turned. I feel now I have the power and now he is worthless and I know he is and I hope he knows it too. I feel the biggest weight off me is that my family know and I don’t have to think about how I am going to tell my parents.”

Three of the victims were sexually assaulted once; one was assaulted twice; another four times; two of the victims were abused on 10 occasions; and one victim, who is now only 14 years old, was sexually assaulted 17 times by O’Brien.

While he did not show remorse, O’Brien did accept every allegation that was made against him as soon as the gardaí approached him and he pleaded guilty to all 46 counts of sexual assault — almost all of them occurring at his own home.

The victims did not want to be identified however, they did want O’Brien “named and shamed” for what he did to them.

A number of the victims experienced deep regret that they did not speak out about the fact that they were being abused, so O’Brien could have been stopped before other children had to suffer.

The women spoke with one voice afterwards when they advised any children who are the victims of sexual abuse to come forward and tell their parents or the gardaí. They thanked the gardaí and expressed their appreciation for the support they got from the organisation Support After Crime.

‘I felt disgusting. I went to bed crying in pain’

I AM a victim of sexual abuse by a man called William “Billy” O’Brien.

Billy took away my innocence, my sisters, my cousins and many others...

Now I think back to the times I felt horrible, disgusting, frustrated, tormented, stupid and helpless. I just couldn’t tell anyone. I used to go to bed crying in pain...

I tried to get courage to write a letter to Billy and tell him I knew and to stop at everyone else or I’d tell the guards but I never got that courage.

To this day I still feel that I could have been the one to end it all.

It drives me mad I never did anything. I used to pray to my granddad and God to make him stop.

I prayed and prayed and prayed and cried and cried and cried that he would just stop.

When the guards told me... he had recorded it and kept tapes of what he did to all of us I was so, so, so angry and disgusted I had to grit my teeth to stop myself from crying with anger and sadness.

All the times I watched the news with my father listening to other sexual abuse cases and Daddy saying “he’s some dirty yoke” or “all them kind of people should be locked up and they should throw away the key”. I used to sit there and think to myself: “I’ll tell him now. I’ll tell him now”, but I couldn’t open my mouth. I just couldn’t say it.

I dreamt at night what would happen if I told my mother and all I could see was her crying and everyone looking at me like I was a freak or something.

I don’t blame my parents in any way... I can see now that my parents thought he was brilliant to us... They didn’t think anything different of inviting him into our house like so many other people did in the community.

I hate what he did to me, to my sister, to my cousins and especially to my parents and my uncle and his wife. I hate him for it. I hate the fact that he had the power. I hate the fact he had control over me, of what I could and couldn’t say. I hate the fact I had to think about what he had done to me, my sister, my cousins and others. I hate the fact I had to cry every night. I hate the fact I felt worthless to everyone.

At present, even though I hate Billy, I now hope the tables have turned. I feel now I have the power and now he is worthless and I know he is and I hope he knows it too...

I’m happy that I don’t cry myself to sleep at night any more with Billy in my mind. I’m happy I can live my life without the burden. I’m happy I won’t have to live my life in fear of him and what he could do to others. I’m happy that I don’t have to worry that he will hurt my family again. Even though I am happy about all these things, I am most unhappy that it all happened in the first place.

I like to believe that soon it is all coming to an end and that Billy will pay for all the pain and suffering and all the tears that he caused. I hope people understand the pain and effect that Billy had on everybody. I also want to know why, why did he do this, just why?

I find it very hard to trust men, in particular older men. I kind of feel nervous around them. I find it very hard to open up to fellas my age and... express my true feelings.

I tend to think how I am going to tell the man I marry what happened to me and will he be ashamed of it. I think about if I had children would I tell them and what I would do if it happened to them.

Everyone around me is worried what other people think and I just want this over, I want to close this book and move on. I wish people around me would just be more open... and not just bottle up everything.

I wish that this whole thing would end in a way that there are no regrets, that there is not “if we did this or if we did that”.

I just want closure.

I feel there are two main things I want out of this for myself and everyone else: I just want justice and happiness.

I would like Billy to be named and shamed, so people will know his true colours.

I didn’t want to be identified as I feel this will just cause more pain and suffering to me and my family.

I sincerely thank my sister for speaking up and I may not say it all the time to her but I am very thankful. She has lifted a tremendous weight from me and even lifted me up.

This is one hurdle accomplished. There just are a few more. I hope someone will understand and do what all the victims need and want.

* This is an edited version of a victim impact statement read out in court yesterday.