Report likely to reveal a litany of inaction

A FATHER convicted of the systematic sexual abuse of his son was sentenced to 14 years in prison yesterday, but the reckoning is only just beginning.

The man’s crimes – and those of his wife, convicted last year and jailed for seven years on charges of abuse and incest – are likely to resonate for decades, not least with their children, whose lives have been comprehensively destroyed by the barely believable levels of abuse dished out by those charged with their care.

Also charged with their care, and also culpable for the spectacular failings, is the state, primarily the HSE/local health board. The report of the inquiry into these failings is likely to be published next month, and it is understood that it will catalogue a litany of inaction and delayed intervention which could lead to calls for greater accountability across the HSE.