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A “REMARKABLY DISABLED” Cork man who raped his seven-year-old nephew multiple times while living in the child’s family home has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
The 27-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was convicted following an eight-day trial on three counts of rape on dates between 2009 and 2011 in a Cork home. He had pleaded not guilty at the Central Criminal Court. The child was between seven and nine years old at the time.
Justice Paul Coffey said he had taken into account the difference in age between the man and the child and the gross betrayal of trust in that he had raped the boy after his sister, the boy’s mother, provided him with a home.
He noted that “at all times the boy was scared of his uncle and fearful of what he may do to his other siblings”.
The judge accepted that the man had significant intellectual difficulties but said “that doesn’t deprive him of moral culpability…he knew what he was doing was wrong”.
Justice Coffey suspended the final six months of the seven-year term on condition that the man engages with a sex offender’s treatment programme while in custody.
He also ordered he undergo seven years post-release supervision after noting the man was considered as at a “high risk of re-offending” after he previously refused to engage with the probation services.
‘A remarkable level of disability’
Defence counsel, Elizabeth O’Connell SC, said the accused suffered from “a remarkable level of disability” and was in the bottom percentile of intelligence among the general population. He was in the bottom 0.2% for his age group, she said.
O’Connell said the man’s intellectual disability could reduce his moral culpability for the crimes even if it didn’t affect his legal culpability.
Prosecuting counsel, Marjorie Farrelly SC, said that at no stage had the man’s condition been linked to his offending and that there was no evidence that he didn’t know the difference between right and wrong.
The child’s mother wrote a victim impact statement on the family’s behalf, saying she never expected her brother to betray them like this.
“We would now like to see justice done and for (the accused) to suffer like we did,” she wrote.
The court heard the accused lived with his sister and helped out around the house, including some child minding.
The child first spoke up about the rapes after his mother gave him a talk about “stranger danger”. When he made the rape allegations he was brought to the local garda station where he made a detailed statement covering multiple instances of rape.
During one incident he said the accused had taken him into a bedroom and raped him. He man also tied a bed sheet around his head so he couldn’t see.
The boy said he was afraid to tell anyone about the abuse because he was worried the man would hurt or abuse somebody else.
The accused’s defence counsel said he had an unhappy childhood and that his intellectual capacity offered “considerable mitigation”. She asked Justice Coffey for as much leniency as possible.
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High risk of re-offending and yet he still gets only 7 years. Pure and utter lunacy.
@Cillian O’Gara: the same lunatic Paul Coffey was paid €435,000 for six months work to F@@k up the stardust case with his two reports are pieces of filth. Mr Coffey should not be a judge but the person who he jailed yesterday should have got a longer sentence
7 years. Wtfudge is wrong with this country. This monster will actually be released back into the community.
If he’s in the bottom 0.2 percentile , and has a significant intellectual disability, is prison really the place for him? Has he the capacity to know the error of his ways and be rehabilitated?
Yes prison is the place for him. The bloody PC brigade in this country will have all sorts roaming our streets doing whatever the hell they want just as long as nobody is offended.
If he’s significantly mentally disabled, a secure mental facility is the other option. I don’t think him roaming the streets was being suggested, to be fair.
Derp derp. A ‘PC Brigade’ answer because she correctly asks a question about his ability to reform. I’m sure she had a secure hospital in mind. Off to Trump’s America with you if you so incapable of any semblance of understanding complexity.
Pedophiles are always Pedophiles, cannot be reformed and therefore should be put down.
Now Cathal that sort of public incorrect comment will be remove now in a few minutes just like mine was.
@Cathal: We have plenty of Islands, Spike for one and they could be housed there in a community. While Doctors, try and figure them out or treat them, air drop food or they can grow their own and no internet or tv.
If there was an issue over his ability to discern right from wrong then he wouldn’t have been found fit to stand trial and ultimately found guilty. Prison offers treatment for sex offenders, it’s up to the prisoner to engage with them.
You are right. Prison is not the place and rehabilitation is pointless if he is already considered a danger for reoffending. A secure facility with proper supervision is what he needs. If he genuinely can’t be culpable for his actions, someone needs to be to be sure no one else ever suffers like the victim. Releasing back into the community after a few years is utter madness.
@Aislinné Freeman:@Aislinné Freeman:Totally agree,a secure psychiatric hospital I think would be more appropriate until more is known about this offender.If he’s at high risk of re offending,then obviously apart from punishment,the public must be protected.I like to know if he was abused and if his nephew is receiving appropriate help,as apart from the trauma,as some abused children go on to be sex offenders themselves.
You know, the difference between that utterly despicable sick perv and the rest of us civilised and decent people is that we don’t fantasise about the rape and degradation of others. Lock the bsatard up for a long time and get him some kind of treatment and get help for that poor child but there’s no need to sink to his level
We need to cull all these people, no matter where you come from or what you are you no what right and wrong is.
The sad thing is this child will probably not get the help he needs and like some victims go on to offend.
We need to stop wasting money on prisons use this money to help victims. all small crime should be community service. Death penalty for all the seriously offences.
@mickmc:
Right. I don’t think you need to be an Amnesty International fan to disagree with the torture of convicted rapists. They’ve given up that practice in all developed countries. I don’t think it’s “PC” to want rapists to be locked up and treated and maybe holding back on the old prison rape. But if you revel in the thought of torturing and raping the man, that’s your business. Whatever floats your boat.
@tweety: if that was your child would you still feel that way friend. I don’t think you would.
Why can’t we bring in the death penalty for these animals
7 years is way too lenient for someone convicted of multiple rape. Especially if he’s is considered “high risk” of reoffending. He should be off the streets until he is considered to not be a risk which may be forever. That said I also wouldn’t want my kids to be anywhere near some of sickos on here talking about taking a “rusty blade” to him or “having him culled”. Scary to think how many savages are among us thinking that they have the moral high ground.
Why was it necessary to mentioned he was disabled? Its like saying a black man shot a man yesterday or a polish man mugged a granny.
Because the judge mentioned it in his summing up, stating that although he was severely disabled it still knew the difference between right and wrong.
@Kieran Jones: Ooh Pc alert. Read the article again before getting yourself offended
@barra. Read my comment befero accusing me of bein offended
His whole defence seemed to hinge on his intellectual disability and it was mentioned by both his council and the judge, so it was relevant and appropriate to mention it.
have your say