Cork man jailed for rape and sexual abuse of daughter

A former army sergeant has been sentenced to 12 years with six suspended after pleading guilty to raping and sexually assaulting his daughter for over a decade.

The abuse began in 1975 when the victim was five years of age and continued until she left the family home at the age of 17.

Lorraine Mulvey, now aged 41, told the Central Criminal Court that during that time she thought the abuse was normal behaviour.

She said she now suffers from low self esteem and low self worth. She said she feels so much disgust with her body that she has never allowed anyone to see her naked.

Ray Mulvey (aged 66) of Ferney Grove, Mahon, Cork, pleaded guilty to seven charges of the sexual assault of his daughter between August 1975 and August 1988 at various locations in both Co Kildare and Cork.

He also admitted raping her on an unknown date between August 1987 and August 1988 in the family home in Cork.

Mulvey, who can be named because his daughter has waived her right to anonymity, stared at the ground as the sentence was read out.

Mr Justice Paul Carney sentenced him to 12 years in prison but suspended the final six years on the condition that he stays away from his daughter. He also ordered that Mulvey be supervised for 18 months after his release.

Mr Justice Carney said he took the breach of trust into account as well as the age of the victim and the fact that she had been “groomed” over a long period of time.

During the sentencing, Detective Garda Sean Stack told prosecuting counsel, Cathleen Noctor BL, that the man began abusing his daughter when the family was living in an army house at the Curragh.

When she was 15 he raped her. The court heard he raped her on two more occasions.

Ms Mulvey told her mother about the abuse in 1997. When her mother confronted her estranged ex-husband, he admitted the abuse.

She went to gardaí three years later and the man told them that the abuse happened at least once a month.

He said he didn’t find it unusual when she didn’t try to stop him raping her. He believed that his behaviour was caused by something wrong with his mind and that he couldn’t control himself.

Ms Mulvey said that as a result of the child abuse she had “worn a mask” for years, saying: “I can now take off the mask. I would encourage anyone who has been abused to report it”.

She said she was not afraid of the abuse at the time because it was her father and she thought it was normal.

But, she said, she knew something was wrong and imagined everyday telling someone or hoping someone would notice something different about her.

Ms Mulvey said the abuse had a bad affect on her relationship with her mother and sister but that their support since she told them about the abuse has given her courage.

She told the court her father would frighten any boyfriends away and she wondered what her life would be like if she had a father and not a sexual abuser.

Mulvey failed to show up for his sentencing two weeks ago and the court heard that after gardaí in Cork arrested him, he told them he had gone to a local cemetery to hang himself.

Gda Stack said that during two garda interviews Mulvey showed no remorse but said he deserved to be jailed for life because “it was a horror story”.

At last week’s hearing Ms Mulvey had just begun reading her victim impact statement when she was interrupted by counsel because the statement she was reading was different to the one previously provided to the court.

Mr Justice Carney suggested to Ms Mulvey she was trying to “pull a fast one” on the court. It later emerged that her original statement had been handed into a victim support group who had faxed the statement to the Director of Public Prosecutions.

Ms Noctor said that the statement was altered at some point and the victim and her sister told the court that they were upset about this.

Today a representative from the victim support group was present and explained the credentials of the organisation

Mr Justice Carney said he had never heard of them but accepted that it was a legitimate group.

The representative said they help victim’s express themselves in their statements but that they always ensure that the victims “own” their statements and that this is important for their healing process. She denied the group made any revisions to the woman’s statement after she had given it.

Speaking outside the Criminal Courts of Justice, Lorraine Mulvey explained that waiving her anonymity was as "an important part of the healing process".

"I’ve waved my right to anonymity in the hope it will give others the courage to speak out and seek help if they are in a similar situation," she said.

“I want everyone to know that there is help out there and the healing will start once you look for the help.

“Because of the actions of my father I was left with nothing but the dreams of what my life should have been and I hope that my speaking out will help others to act much sooner than I was able to do so.”

She added: “To people out there suffering like I did, I urge you to make that call. Help is only a phone call away. Through speaking I have received so much support from so many people, in particular my family and friends who have been amazing, as has Garda Sean Stack and counsellors at Arbour counselling.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank everybody from the bottom of my heart for their support and I would not be standing here without it.”