Man sexually abused girls while they steered car

A 59-year-old man from West Cork sexually assaulted three girls by having them sit on his lap to steer his car on country roads and yesterday he was jailed for two years, as the judge said he was guilty of a gross breach of trust.

Donal Sheehan of Ardfield, Clonakilty, Co Cork, pleaded guilty to six counts of sexual assault against three victims when they were aged around 10 and younger in the years between 2000 and 2006.

Judge Seán Ó Donnabháin said the plea of guilty was a public offer of affirmation by Sheehan that he was the abuser of them, that they were right and that he was wrong. He said people in the community had to live with that reality.

The three victims “are vindicated, they made complaints and everything they said is correct”.

Detective Garda Maurice Shanley described the nature of the six sexual assaults where the girls were at various times caught by Sheehan who put his hands up their shirts to feel their breasts and down their pants to feel their private parts. The incidents included occasions when he let a girl steer his car when he operated the pedals, which meant that the victim would be sitting on his lap, feeling him getting hard as he rubbed her thighs.

One of them recalled how she felt before this would happen: “Seeing the smirk on his face would make me sick to my stomach.”

Marjorie Farrelly, senior counsel for Sheehan, said he did not realise the full impact of what he had done until after his pleas of guilty when he read their victim impact reports.

She said he had played a positive role in his community being heavily involved in the GAA where he was a referee. He worked with Eircom. Ms Farrelly said he was full of remorse for what he had done to the three children and he had also brought devastation on his own life.

His name will go on the Sex Offenders Register for 10 years. The jail term at Cork Circuit Criminal Court was three years with the last year suspended.