Victim describes caretaker rapist as 'demon'

A caretaker jailed for 14 years today for molesting and raping four boys at a Donegal school has been described as a "demon" by one of his victims.

Michael Ferry of Gweedore, pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to 38 sample charges which included oral and anal rapes, sex assaults, one indecent assault and two charges of production of child pornography on dates between 1990 and 2005.

Michael Ferry used cigarettes, alcohol and money to groom his young male victims who he raped and abused at a school in Donegal on an almost weekly basis.

Mr Justice Paul Carney said the disturbing feature of this case was that the outrages were perpetrated by the caretaker at a time that predated and postdated a previous conviction from 2002 for abusing a pupil in the same school in the 1980s.

The judge said today that this must have been known to local gardai and school authorities yet Michael Ferry was able to return to his job giving him the opportunity to stalk boys.

One of the rape victims Derek Mulligan decided to speak out against the man he calls a "demon", saying: "How can someone so sick prey…on children, the most vulnerable of all? I believe someone so sick and perverted could never change. Why wasn;t he stopped before this?"

Mr Justice Carney acknowledged Michael Ferry's remorse and guilty pleas but he noted also the systemic grooming and the premediated nature of the offences and he imposed an 18 year sentence with the last 4 years suspended.