'I was an innocent child' — Man jailed for sexually assaulting wife's goddaughter, 16

Seven letters of support for defendant read out in court or given to judge, including one from wife and employer

Michael King, 52, of Boyle, Co. Roscommon, was found guilty at Roscommon Circuit Criminal Court in March by a unanimous verdict of 12 sexual assault charges against Tara Kelly, who has waived her right to anonymity.

A former second-hand car salesman and father-of-six has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison for the grooming and sexual assault of his wife’s teenage goddaughter.

Michael King, 52, of Boyle, Co. Roscommon, was found guilty at Roscommon Circuit Criminal Court in March by a unanimous verdict of 12 sexual assault charges against Tara Kelly, who has waived her right to anonymity. The assaults took place at Warren View, Boyle, on dates unknown between December 2004 and May 2005, when Ms Kelly was 16 years old.

At Longford Circuit Criminal Court on Wednesday, Judge Kenneth Connolly sentenced King to six-and-a-half years in total with the final year suspended, backdated to March 28, 2023 when he first went into custody. 

Seven letters of support for King were either read out in court or given to Judge Connolly from King’s immediate family and friends, including an employer reference from Martin Reilly of Martin Reilly Motors, a car dealership in Sligo where King worked as a salesman up until his trial.

At the start of his sentence hearing, King read out a letter of apology to his now 34-year-old victim. “I really am so sorry for the anguish that I caused you. It was never my intention to make you feel the way that you do. I am so sorry for the pain that you felt over the years,” he said.

Prosecuting counsel, John Hayden, told the court that King’s apology was “not accepted” by Ms Kelly.

Victim impact statement

In her victim impact statement read out at an earlier hearing, Ms Kelly said she had had a very happy and loving childhood but her life changed forever at 16. “He made me feel like I wasn’t a good person and that I was responsible for the disgusting things he did to me. I was 16. I was an innocent child, and he took that away from me,” she said.

“When the abuse was happening, I had become so accustomed to the behaviour and learned to just zone out and do what he asked. It was the only way I knew how to cope with what was happening to me. At the time I didn’t have the vocabulary, the knowledge or the courage to say no. To say stop. 

I think the worst damage he did was to my mind. He manipulated me into thinking this was acceptable behaviour, that it was all normal.

Ms Kelly said King had assaulted her in the presence of his wife and her parents. “He thought he was so clever, so creative, and he knew he would get away with it. And he continued to do so because he was getting away with it. He would be so brazen about it all.” 

Even when the abuse ended, she was reminded of it every time she came home. “Seeing the places the abuse had happened, seeing my family who I was too scared to confide in, and even seeing him at family events. I had to greet and hug him time and time again, all with a smile on my face, trying my best to pretend everything was normal and that everything was ok. 

"On the inside I was wrecked and suffocating from the pain. For family moments, like my brother’s wedding, a day that should have been full of joy and love were instead overwhelmed with shame, fear and panic. It was never over,” she said.

She told Judge Connolly that she felt like she was leading a double life, but “had to brush it off, put on a face and act as if nothing had happened.” 

Ms Kelly said the effects of the sexual assaults manifested much later in her life. “Then all the secrecy, the guilt, the shame and feeling dirty began to manifest within my body. I internalised it all,” she said. 

She developed chronic pain all over her body and suffered many “unexplainable” mental breakdowns. She sought help in 2018 and 2019 from rape crisis centres in the UK who helped her to deal with the process of coming forward with her story.

“I feel sorry for his wife and I feel sorry for his kids. I never wanted to be the person to take a father away from his children. But I have to continuously remind myself that it isn’t me doing this. 

His actions have brought him here. He was the adult. And he needs to carry this pain, guilt and shame. It does not belong to me and it never should have belonged to me.

“He managed to live his life with his wife, have a family and continue with his image of the perfect family man while I was silently struggling. He had a choice to take accountability for what he did but instead he made me and my family endure a horrific, lengthy court trial adding further damage and immense stress onto what has already been a traumatic period.

“I have put up a long and strenuous fight to finally see the day that the system actually works for women like me. That justice will be served. I was too fearful, too weak to say anything. But I’m not that child anymore and I will not be shamed into silence.

“At 34 years of age, I am still learning that I have a voice, because I have been silent for so long. And that my voice matters. And that “no” is always an option. I hope that my coming forward and my decision to waive anonymity today will encourage other young people to come forward, to not feel shamed into silence and to know you are not alone.

“He was in my life long before he touched me. I trusted him, I respected him and I looked up to him. More importantly, my parents trusted him. He portrayed himself really well; a family man and a great husband. Whatever the outcome today, I know, and now all these witnesses know, who he truly is,” she concluded.

Family support for Michael King

His wife, Tracy King, who is a first cousin of the victim, took to the witness box to describe how she and King had enjoyed 24 years of “a happy marriage” until the day he was arrested on August 10, 2021, a day which “changed my life fundamentally.” 

She said her husband had been “an excellent father” who played a “hands-on role” in his six children’s lives and was a “great provider”. “I am heartbroken that we are here today. I hope she will find healing to recover from this trauma,” she told the court. 

Ms King went on to plead with the judge for leniency in sentencing her husband, saying that while she understood the gravity of what he had been found guilty of, King was the main breadwinner of the family. “He helps keep the kids on the straight and narrow. I know if he is in prison our family will struggle financially and emotionally,” she said.

One of his children, visibly upset, handed in a letter to the judge after their mother had finished.

King’s father-in-law, Mr Sparrow – an uncle of the victim - then read out his letter of support, also reiterating his children’s financial dependence on him. King’s sister, Joanne King, read out a letter to the judge from her mother, describing how King was a “rock” both to her and his own family. “I cannot undo the pain Tara has gone through but I can apologise,” she said.

Defence Counsel, Dara Foynes SC, then handed in a reference from Martin Reilly to Judge Connolly. After reading it, the judge said it was clear from Mr Reilly’s letter that King was “a man that has been very dedicated to his work.” 

King wore his Martin Reilly Motors uniform throughout his 10-day trial. Mr Reilly, however, denied all knowledge of the existence of the employer reference when contacted by this newspaper after King was sentenced.

A sixth letter from a close family friend, a girl whose own father had died and who had spent a lot of time in the King household, described the part he played in her life. A final letter was also submitted from two friends of King who had grown up with him in England.