Rape victim asks DPP to jail her attacker

A rape victim has said she is devastated by a judge’s decision to let her attacker walk free from court in order to look after his special needs children.

Speaking publicly for the first time, the woman, who was 14 when she was raped by her sister’s then-husband after she babysat for the couple, has called for the DPP to appeal the suspended sentence he received.

“He never showed any remorse. He had four years from when I first went to gardaí and he has never admitted what he did or apologised to me. What he did to me has affected every aspect of my life. It left me with a pain, trauma, loss, and sadness that I continue to feel every day.”

Her call was backed by Ellen O’Malley-Dunlop, the chief executive of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre, who criticised the decision by Judge Garrett Sheehan to suspend the seven-year sentence. “I think this gives out a very bad message,” said Ms O’Malley-Dunlop.

The man was found guilty in February of raping his then sister-in-law on two occasions and of indecently assaulting her on two other occasions between Sept 1985 and May 1986.

The court heard that the victim was staying over after babysitting her sister’s children when the man came into the upstairs box room where she was sleeping and molested her before raping her.

Sentencing was adjourned to last Friday, when Judge Sheehan delivered a 10-page judgement explaining his decision to impose a suspended sentence on the grounds that it was in the interest of society and of the rapist’s family that the family unit was “preserved and supported” because of the level of care required by his children.

The judge noted that since the rapist was rem-anded in custody last February, his current partner of eight years had been left to care for two children with autism who required 24-hour care and attention.

A report from her GP said this put a “huge strain” on her, while a report from a teacher of one boy, who has a severe form of autism, stated that his behaviour and progress had rapidly deteriorated since his father’s imprisonment.

Judge Sheehan said the absence of any other convictions and the fact the rapist had effectively “self-rehabilitated” since the offences were committed were significant, mitigating factors.

However, the victim said: “How can anyone think that a man who had raped a 14-year-old girl twice and who had shown no remorse and has never apologised to me has rehabilitated?

“He should be in jail. If you commit a crime you should be punished, and you shouldn’t get off because just because your circumstances have changed. This is not justice.”

Ms O’Malley-Dunlop agreed. “I know the family circumstances are terribly sad, but there are many men and women who are in prison today who have children who need their fathers and mothers, and I have not heard it used as a mitigating factor,” she said.

The DPP, Claire Loftus, has 28 days from last Friday to ask the Court of Criminal Appeal to review the sentence, but her office would make no comment on the matter yesterday.