Judge gives man 15 years for 10 years of sexual assaults

A 15-year jail sentence was imposed on a man for sexually assaulting eight girls over a ten-year period as the judge said the man had enticed the girls into his house and then committed "very nasty" sexual assaults.

The victims of abuse said outside Cork Circuit Criminal Court this afternoon that justice had been done.

Detective Sergeant Seán Leahy, who investigated the case, described his dealings with William (Billy) O’Brien (aged 62), of Shanakill, Curraglass, Mallow, County Cork: “He came across with no expression of remorse or guilt. He did not once apologise for the suffering he caused. He believed he was doing nothing wrong.”

One of the most significant parts of the judgment from the victims’ point of view was that the last three years of the sentence imposed by Judge Patrick J. Moran were suspended on condition that O’Brien would not return to Curraglass.

His name was put on the Sex Offenders Register.

Judge Moran thanked the young women who read their statements and he said that he read all eight victim statements before he heard any evidence and felt quite disturbed.

The case came to light when one of the victims saw a new family with two young daughters moving to the area and she saw O’Brien befriending this family.

Fearing the abuse was going to start with another family, the victim approached the mother and warned her.

This parent was the first adult to be told of what O’Brien had done between 1992 and 2002 and she told the gardaí.

Detective Segeant Leahy said O’Brien sometimes sexually assaulted two girls at one time.

By his own admission, O’Brien lost interest in the girls when they reached the age of about 12 and moved on to groom a younger sister for abuse or else transferred his attention to a family with younger daughters.

The defendant was trusted by the victims’ families by virtue of doing handyman jobs in their houses.

He had a Playstation in his own house and a press which he called the sweet shop as it was full of sweets and crisps.

The victims did not want to be identified and there is a legal prohibition against identifying them.

However, they did want O’Brien "named and shamed" for what he did to them.

A number of the victims experienced deep regret that they did not speak out about the fact that they were being abused so that O’Brien could have been stopped before other children had to suffer.