Mayo man jailed for indecent assaults dating back 55 years
The defendant was found guilty by a jury at Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court.
A Mayo man found guilty of 17 counts of indecent assault committed more than 50 years ago has been jailed.
The now 74-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges when he first appeared before Castlebar Circuit Criminal Court last June but was convicted by a jury. He cannot be named in order to protect the male victim.
The court was told that the offences occurred at several locations in Mayo from January 1969 to March 1970 when the male victim was nine and 10 years of age and the defendant was 18 and 19 years old.
The jury heard that the accused was doing farmwork for the victim's parents at the time and had been living with an uncle close to the victim's home. The assaults occurred in various locations.
In one instance, the accused made the victim touch his penis while the majority of the other offences saw him squeeze the victim's testicles causing him intense pain.
The injured party said he never told anyone about the offences at the time. Now aged 66, he believed he had blanked out some of the assaults but the memories were always there and he reported the crimes to Gardaí in 2021.
When first questioned by investigating officers about the incidents, the accused asked if the complainant was a man or a woman.
The victim said the accused would often incapacitate him by grabbing his neck before grabbing and squeezing his testicles.
On another occasion, the pair were in a truck helping the injured party’s father. While his father was visiting a house, the defendant asked to see the injured party’s penis. When he refused, the defendant took out his own and forced the boy to touch it. The injured party said he tried to scratch the defendant's face and the ordeal only ended when there was the sound of voices nearby.
The injured party was attacked again in a farm building. The defendant was reading something in one hand and masturbating with the other. The victim went to run away but was caught and pushed. His assailant lay on top of him and squeezed his testicles forcibly.
Giving evidence to the court, the victim said the attacks happened at least once a month before the defendant's uncle died and he moved away.
A 12-person jury deliberated for more than three hours before returning a guilty verdict on all 17 counts.
The case came before the court again on Friday last for sentencing.
In a victim impact statement, the injured party said as a 10-year-old boy he lived in constant fear and suffered pain and anxiety following the assaults. The after-effects impacted his adult life and he suffered from nightmares and “terrifying flashbacks".
Senior counsel, Fiona Murphy, representing the accused, said her client still maintains his innocence. He took the guilty verdict very badly and had to be hospitalised. His mental health was now a cause for concern.
Judge Eoin Garavan told the victim that he was credible throughout the trial and sentencing.
“He is a hard working man whose life has been blighted by what happened to him," he said.
The judge praised the victim’s courage in bringing the case. He said the accused was “a bully in indecent circumstances”, adding that he took advantage of a younger, smaller, and weaker individual.
Judge Garavan sentenced the man to four years in prison, suspending the final year. He also ordered the accused to carry out a sex offender's course while in prison.
