Six years for man who sexually abused three young daughters

An elderly Wexford resident who sexually abused three of his daughters over a period of 11 years has been jailed for six years.

Francis Duffy (aged 73), a former army sergeant and father of 12, admitted 21 years ago to sexually abusing three of his daughters but has not been prosecuted until now because some of the family allegedly forced a victim to retract her allegations.

Duffy of Ryland Wood, Bunclody, Co Wexford pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to indecently assaulting two of his daughters on six occasions each and sexually assaulting another on one occasion.

All 13 offences occurred between 1974 and 1985 at the family home in Ballyfermot in Dublin.

The three victims are now aged 42, 40 and 35 years old but were between 10 and 11 when the abuse began.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said there were legal constraints on him in relation to the penalties due to the antiquity of some of the offences.

He said although the Court of Criminal Appeal would not tolerate the use of consecutive sentences to circumvent inadequate penalties, in this case concurrent sentences would fail to reflect the overall gravity of the offending.

Mr Justice Carney imposed two-year sentences in relation to the charges against each of the girls and made them consecutive to each other, imposing a total of six years imprisonment.

One of the women had first gone to gardaí in 1989 and made a statement about her father. When they interviewed Duffy he immediately admitted sexually assaulting the three girls. One of the other victims confirmed she had been abused while another denied it due to alleged pressure from her family.

The woman who made the statement then retracted it and said she was lying, causing investigators to decide there was not enough evidence to secure a conviction.

The court heard the allegations had “ripped” the family apart and two of his children took the stand to give evidence his favour. One daughter said Duffy had also hurt the entire family but she had forgiven him.

Another son said he had hated his father when the allegations came out but has since come to believe he was genuinely remorseful.

The three victims read out emotional statements to the court detailing how the abuse had destroyed their lives and how they still felt the repercussions.

One daughter, now aged 40, told how in 1989 she made a statement to gardaí about the abuse but was then “blacklisted” by the family and forced to say she had been lying.

“I cannot and probably will not understand why it came out so many times and nothing was done about it,” she said.

“When I once again felt the courage to speak out about the abuse in later years, my family was almost instantly split as a result. I still hold the fear of reprisal and intimidation which I first felt from certain members of my family when I spoke out before, now that I am speaking out again.”

Another victim, now aged 42, claimed that her mother and members of her family protected Duffy despite knowing about the abuse. She said she attempted suicide after she was allegedly assaulted for going to see a councillor.

She told the court: “My mother took on the role of protector to my father. She recruited and manipulated many of my siblings to collude with her against, not just me, but anyone who tried to speak out against the abuse, whilst my father hid behind her.”

The youngest of the victims, now aged 35, said she was still afraid of some members of her family because she went to gardaí.

“I was abandoned by my family from the moment I made the call and gave a statement to the Guards. This has left me watching over my shoulder on a daily basis,” she said.

“I am concerned for my safety in the future as I live alone and have been an easy target to these people.”

She told the court that her mother and two siblings told her to deny any abuse had taken place when a detective interviewed her in 1989. She said she was told she would be “placed in a home” if she told the truth.

Defence counsel, Mr Luan O’Braonain SC, said his client had made full admissions both in 1989 and in 2006 when the allegations resurfaced. He said he was “deeply sorry” and was took responsibility for everything that happened.

Mr O’Braonain said Duffy had risen to the rank of sergeant in the army and had served in Cyprus, the Congo and Lebanon during which he had seen “difficult and disturbing matters”. He later became a security guard on leaving the army.

Detective Garda Denis Smith told prosecuting counsel, Mr Brendan Grehan SC, that Duffy would molest the eldest complainant, starting when she was 11, at various locations around the house and would tell her he loved her and that she was his favourite child.

The abuse would happen up to two or three times a week and he would give her gifts and money afterwards.

At one point she told her mother what was happening and her mother told her to tell Duffy that she was pregnant “to give him a fright”.

When she said this to Duffy he said “you couldn’t be” and over the next few days he made the girl hang by her arms from the ceiling while he swung her back and forth causing her extreme pain in her wrists. He also made her do push-ups and skip rope.

He would abuse the next complainant in a similar way from the age of ten, telling her this was “our little secret” and not to tell her mother.

He also sexually assaulted the youngest victim when she was ten and told her: “You are my special little girl and I want to show you how much I love you.”

He said he wanted to take her bed to “show her how much he loved her”.

The abuse of the two older victims continued until Duffy was sent to Lebanon with the army in 1980.

When he came back his wife confronted him about the abuse and he promised never to do it again, however in 1985 he committed the abuse against the youngest victim.