Three ‘House of Horrors’ victims settle actions

Three of the six children who endured horrific abuse and neglect in the Roscommon ‘House of Horrors’ have received settlements for their years of suffering.

The three, who are now over 18, are understood to have settled their legal actions against the State in the wake of a damning report into the case.

The remaining three children, who are underage, are also expected to pursue redress for their dysfunctional childhood at the hands of their parents.

Their mother, now 45, was sentenced in January 2009 to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to 10 charges, including two of incest, two of sexual abuse and six of neglect and wilful ill-treatment and neglect of the children between 1998 and 2004.

She described herself as the “worst mother in the world” after Roscommon Circuit Court heard a harrowing catalogue of abuse, including forcing her 13-year-old son to have sex with her.

She was the first woman in Irish legal history to be convicted of incest and the first to be registered as a sex offender. She is due to be released from prison before the end of April. She has received the usual one-quarter remission of her sentence for good behaviour.

Her husband was later jailed for 12 and a half years for the rape and sexual assault of one of his sons.

The children were aged between six and 15 when the offences took place and the legal action by the oldest three followed the publication of a report commissioned by the HSE in 2010 into their nightmare childhood. The HSE also apologised unreservedly to the children.

The report found the children’s voices had gone unheard for years until they were taken into care in 2004.

It revealed the family’s three-bedroom bungalow in Co Roscommon was dirty, strewn with rubbish, cold, damp, and had dead rats and mice inside and out.

The report detailed a litany of failures by authorities to protect the children and outlined the ways they were continually neglected.

Western Health Board staff lacked the confidence to confront the parents when appropriate. The report also found staff did not challenge the parents about the effect their behaviour was having on the children.

The parents were, according to the report, deft at deflecting staff from critical issues during home visits.

The report also said staff did not address the concerns of relatives.