Child rapist joins 12 sex offenders serving life terms

The 30-year-old rapist of two children joins 12 other sex offenders serving a life sentence in Irish prisons. While he will be able to start applying for parole after he serves seven years, the average term of life sentences is just over 17 years.

Figures provided to the Irish Examiner show that of the 12 sex offenders serving life, one has so far served 18 years and another has served 17 years.

One other person is serving life for defilement or unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under 15.

Former Mountjoy governor John Lonergan told Newstalk radio yesterday there was “a very real possibility” the man will spend the rest of his life in prison.

The Parole Board says there are cases where it does not recommend parole to the minister for justice because of “the gravity and heinous nature of the offence and their risk of re-offending”.

While the rapist will be offered psychological services from early on he will only be able to take part in the sex offender treatment programme towards the end of his term.

The priority for this course is those nearing the end of their sentence so as to maximise their rehabilitation. Treatment is voluntary.

The rapist was sent to Mountjoy Prison on Monday and held in the committal unit overnight while the Prison Service decided where to place him long term. The Galway man had been held on remand in Castlerea Prison since he was charged, which houses inmates such as Ronnie Dunbar, who is serving life for killing Sligo teenager Melissa Mahon and Simon McGinley, who is serving 21 years for raping an 85-year-old woman.

The man was transferred yesterday evening from Mountjoy to Midlands Prison, which holds in the region of 200 sex offenders.

“Because of the nature of his conviction, the Midlands has more long-term sex offenders,” a prison source said. “It has adequate facilities, full out-of-cell regimes, appropriate services and schools, as well as work and training.”

Sources said the man will now be assessed as part of the Prison Service’s integrated sentence management structure, which will identify his needs, his path through imprisonment, with a view to his rehabilitation.

There are two prisons in Ireland for sex offenders: one in Arbour Hill, Dublin, which solely houses sex offenders, including clerical abusers, and Midlands Prison in Portlaoise. There are around 95 sex offenders in Arbour Hill.

The Prison Service introduce a new therapeutic programme in 2009, called Building Better Lives. Participation is voluntary.

“While offenders can be supported and encouraged in their efforts to address their offending behaviour, ultimately successful completion of an intervention programme depends on the willing participation and commitment of appropriately motivated individuals,” said a Prison Service spokesman. “It is not possible to force an individual to engage in psychological intervention against their will.”

325 sex offenders in jail

-Number of sex offenders: 325 (November 2012) Serving Life: 12. Does not include those serving multiple life sentences for murder and rape (likes Gerald Barry who murdered 17-year-old Swiss student Manuela Riedo and raped a French student.

-Breakdown: 10 for rape; one aggravated sexual assault, and one unlawful carnal knowledge of girl under 15.

-Longest: One inmate has so far served 18 years, the second longest has served 17.

-Jail: Nine are in Arbour Hill, two in Wheatfield, and one in Midlands. (Wheatfield inmates now thought to be in the Midlands).

-Released in 2013: 179 sex offenders (51 completed treatment).

-Released in 2014: 142 due to be (45 currently in treatment).

-Re-offending Rate: 15% of sex offenders released in 2008 re-offended within three years, compared to 50% of offenders generally.

-Sex offender lifers:n Edward Piotrowski, 46, from Poland, but living in Edenderry, Co Offaly, was given five life sentences in November 2012 for the rape and sexual assault of a woman. During a two-and-half- hour ordeal, the former army officer told the woman he was going to kill her, her partner, and her daughter.

-A 52-year-old man, who cannot be identified to protect his victims, was jailed for life in December 2011 for raping four of his daughters over an 18-year-period.

-David Power, 30, from Thurles, Co Tipperary, was jailed for life in 2009 for raping a woman in a fast-food restaurant toilet at knifepoint. He had served previous convictions for aggravated sexual assaults.