Judge rejects character references as rapist is sentenced to 11 years

Judge refuses to accept character references for accused as the people who wrote them were not in court

The Central Criminal Court heard that the man was found guilty of anal rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault, in various locations between 1983 to 1993. File picture

A Sligo man has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for the rape and indecent sexual assault of three children over three decades ago.

The man’s lawyers asked Mr Justice David Keane to receive three character references but the judge refused to accept them. He said he would only allow character references if their authors were present in court to take the stand. This would also allow for cross-examination of this referee’s testimony to take place, he said.

The Central Criminal Court heard that the man, who is in his late 60s, was found guilty of anal rape, indecent assault, and sexual assault, in various locations between 1983 to 1993.

Man cannot be named to protect his victims

The man, who cannot be named to protect his victims, was aged in his 30s at the time of the assaults. The victims, who were known to the accused, were aged between five and 13 at the time.

Detective Sergeant Gerard Mullaney told the court the first victim was indecently assaulted and anally raped by the accused. The assaults began with touching of the chest and genital areas but progressed to anal rape after the accused entered the room she was sleeping in.

The court heard the second victim was indecently assaulted in her home on occasions when the accused would spend the night. The accused would come upstairs into her room, and rub her chest and genital area.

The offences developed into digital penetration. The accused would then go and flush the toilet, to give the impression he went upstairs to use it.

The court heard the third victim went to the accused’s home “for a message”. She was brought to a shed and he touched her genital area.

When interviewed by gardaí relating to the allegations, he denied them and said, “it was all lies” and “a load of crap”.

Victim impact statments

Two of the three victims read victim impact statements in court. One described how the accused has “ruined her entire life”, while the other said she was “filled with fear from the age of seven onwards and became a scared and angry child”.

Roisin Lacey, defending, told the court her client has no previous convictions She said her client was a hardworking man with many medical conditions. The accused does not accept the verdict of the jury.

A Probation Services report handed into court outlined that the accused was of low risk of reoffending.

Mr Justice David Keane began by commending the three victims on their courage in making the complaints, and hoped they could draw strength from the jury’s verdict. He said of the rape that the accused was an adult, nearly 40, and the victim was a defenceless child.

'No remorse'

Mr Justice Keane said there had been no remorse shown by the accused. However, he would take the lack of previous convictions, eventual cooperation with gardaí, and his low risk of reoffending into account.

The accused was found guilty in February 2022 of one count of anal rape, 13 counts of indecent assault, and three counts of sexual assault. Mr Justice Keane sentenced him to 11 years in prison. In addition, he ordered the accused to remain under the supervision of the probation services for three years post-release and engage with all services outlined.