'Serial child abuser' Derry O'Rourke jailed for 10 years for rape and sexual abuse of teenage girl
The court heard O’Rourke singled the girl out as a potential member of his swim team at the school and set up an individual training schedule for her. He abused her in a room off the pool, known as the float room, on the pretext of carrying out muscle checks. File picture
Former international swimming coach and serial child abuser Derry O’Rourke has been jailed for 10 years for the rape and sexual assault of a young teenager 35 years ago.
O’Rourke, 78, of Virgina Road, Cavan, had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one count of rape and 15 counts of indecent assault in a Leinster school the girl attended on dates between October 1989 and June 1990. The complainant was between 13 and 14 years old at the time.
He was convicted of one count of rape and 11 charges of sexual assault, which involved touching the child’s breast and digitally penetrating her vagina. The jury returned the unanimous verdict following a six-day trial. Earlier in the trial, four of the indecent assault charges were removed from the indictment.
The court heard O’Rourke singled the girl out as a potential member of his swim team at the school and set up an individual training schedule for her. He abused her in a room off the pool, known as the float room, on the pretext of carrying out muscle checks.
Following the rape, the teenager never returned to swimming, despite having previously trained five times a week.
This woman’s case is the only case that O’Rourke has contested. His previous convictions, which first involved a jail term in 1998, all stemmed from guilty pleas in relation to over 19 children.
The offences dates range from 1970 to 1992, and O’Rourke was ultimately released from prison in March 2007.
At a sentencing hearing on Wednesday, Justice Melanie Greally referred to O’Rourke’s previous convictions and described him as “a serial child abuser”.
She said his apology to the victim for contesting the case “rings hollow” after she acknowledged O’Rourke now accepts the verdicts of the jury.
Ms Justice Greally addressed the woman in court and praised the manner in which she had conducted herself throughout the trial. “I wish you well for the future,” she said.
Ms Justice Greally said the aggravating features in the case included the duration of the offending, the persistence of the offending, the fact the victim was a child, that O’Rourke abused his position of authority, that the offending involved pre-meditation and grooming, that she was violated in an environment of supposed safety and that he had exposed the young teenager to the risk of pregnancy.
She said there were only two mitigating factors of “real substance”, being O’Rourke’s advanced age and his poor health.
Ms Justice Greally said the woman had read her victim impact statement into the record “and with immense courage and dignity she confronted her abuser and told him directly how it (the abuse) had impacted her”.
She said the woman outlined the “loss of trust” and “a constant need to escape” in addition to how the trial and garda investigation took a toll on both her mental and physical health.
Justice Greally acknowledged O’Rourke had no contact with family or former friends and will likely have no visitors in prison.
She said his “last-minute admission of guilt is too little too late”.
Ms Justice Greally also said she had noted that O’Rourke would have been given “substantial lenience” in his early convictions as he had pleaded guilty.
She imposed concurrent sentences of 10 years for rape, 40 months for the sexual assaults, which involved the touching of the woman’s breasts and five years for the sexual assaults, which involved digital penetration.
At a sentencing hearing on Tuesday, the woman took to the stand to read her victim impact statement, in which she said O’Rourke’s “brutalisation” of her took so much that was not his to take and “nothing will ever get it back”.
The now 48-year-old woman turned to look at O’Rourke as she said: “Derry, isn’t it interesting how I can remember your name, but you couldn’t afford me the same dignity,” she began.
The woman was referring to the fact O’Rourke told gardaí on arrest he had no recollection of the then 14-year-old school girl. He said she was never on his swim team and told officers if her allegations were true, he would admit it.
She described O’Rourke’s crimes as “a brutalisation” of her and said the re-telling of the abuse of her “continues to be incredibly painful”.
“You made me create a mask for myself that kept me silent and one that would not let me speak, one that moulded my life,” the woman continued.
“You changed my world, my entire existence. For you to violate and abuse, not only a child’s trust but their body too is unacceptable. With complete and utter disregard, you deliberately used me for your own personal gratification,” the woman continued.
She described O’Rourke’s assault as “a warped deliberate manipulation of a child”.
She spoke of the “disregard, wanton neglect and cruelty” O’Rourke displayed towards her and his “absolute inability to admit what you did”.
“I do not know what led you down the path to cause such violence. It is recognised that many abusers are themselves abused, and if you were, I am genuinely sorry for you. But, and it is a big but, if you were, unlike me, you chose to perpetuate the vicious cycle.
“You didn’t stop. You could have, but you did not. That was your choice. I had no choice. You took so much that was not yours to take, and nothing will ever get it back,” the woman concluded her statement.
Patricia McLaughlin SC, prosecuting, told the court the Director of Public Prosecutions submitted the case warrants a headline sentence of between 15 years and life imprisonment, principally due to the nature of the offending and O’Rourke’s criminal record.
Michael Bowman SC, defending, said O’Rourke now accepted the verdict of the jury and apologises for the hurt he has caused the woman.
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