Children of rapist father may sue State

THE children of a man jailed for 14 years for the systematic sexual abuse of his son may sue the state over the Health Service Executive’s (HSE) failure to halt abuse carried out by the man and his wife.

The 52-year-old man from the west of Ireland was given the 14-year sentence yesterday by the Central Criminal Court in a case which is the subject of an upcoming report on how health board officials failed to stop years of abuse within the family.

The independent inquiry, commissioned by the HSE and led by Norah Gibbons of Barnardos, could publish its findings as early as next month and is expected to question the state’s lack of effective intervention.