NEWS
Abuse inquiry to be published after second parent convicted
CAROL COULTER Legal Affairs Editor, Irish Times 16th February 2010


THE OUTCOME of an inquiry into the case of six children who spent 15 years being neglected and abused by their parents will be published shortly, following the conviction yesterday of the father for the systematic sexual abuse of his son over a three-year period.

In a case where further details emerged of the circumstances in which the children grew up, a 52-year-old man was found guilty at the Central Criminal Court yesterday of 47 charges of sexual abuse and rape of his son. He will be sentenced by Mr Justice Barry White later.

During the nine-day trial the jury heard how the boy was sexually assaulted and raped both orally and anally while he was aged between 12 and 15 years old. He is now 20.

At the outset of the trial and in the absence of the jury the court agreed that no connection could be made between this case and a case heard in the Circuit Criminal Court last year, where the man’s wife pleaded guilty to incest with another son and to neglect of the couple’s six children. She is serving a seven-year sentence, and gave evidence in this case against her husband, telling the court she had witnessed him raping the son.

The man in this case, who cannot be named to protect the identity of his victim, was found guilty by a jury of 11 charges of anal rape, 12 charges of oral rape and 24 charges of sexual assault of the boy on dates between April 11th, 2001, and June 23rd, 2004, when the boy was removed from the home following allegations by his sister that he had raped her.

He was taken into foster care and three months later revealed the abuse by his father.

The court heard of the involvement of social services with the family from the early 1990s, leading to a proposal that the children be taken into a co-parenting arrangement in 2000. This was aborted when the mother went to the High Court in October 2000 to obtain an injunction restraining the health board from removing the children.

She represented herself in making the ex parte application (without the knowledge of the health board), but agreed in court she “had help” from “a right-wing organisation” in making it.

Following the injunction, which was lifted in May 2001, the children remained in the care of their parents until 2004, during which time the offences against both sons took place.

An inquiry into the health board handling of the case, chaired by Norah Gibbons, of Barnardos’ children’s charity, has been taking place, and is expected to be published shortly, now that the way has been cleared by the completion of the trial.

During the trial the accused man denied the allegations. He told prosecuting counsel Delia Flynn SC that his son may have made up the allegations as “revenge” and recalled his son telling him “his head was all over the place”. “What I am being accused of you would not do to an animal,” the man said.

Ms Flynn asked him if he accepted it was difficult for his son to make the allegations. He said: “It was not difficult for him, he had no problem.” When asked if it appeared to him his son found it easy to give his evidence in court, he replied: “He seemed to get through it easily, lying his way through it.”

Mr Justice White thanked the jury and excused them from jury service for life.
 

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