Five
years for abusing children
A man from Carpenterstown has been jailed for five years for sexually
abusing his daughter as well as six other girls over a 15 year period
from 1974 to 1989
.
The Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard how Bernard Delaney (66) from
Oaktree Lawn had sexually abused his daughter while reading her bedtime
stories as well as sexually interfering with six other young females
over this period. Delaney pleaded guilty to 14 sample counts of indecent
assault against the seven victims on dates between October 1974 and
November 1989.
His daughter wept as she told Judge Katherine Delahunt "if your
father does that to you and your mother stands by him, it makes you
feel worthless."
Audrey Delaney Murphy who is now 40 also said that she wanted her father
named in the media. She told Judge Delahunt that her heart had been
broken over by what he had done to her. She said counselling "made
me realise we are adults and someone has to stand up for children".
She also described feeling isolated, mistrustful of men and overprotective
of her own children. "My father's guilty plea is the only thing
I will say 'thank you' for."
The court heard how Audrey was just three years old when her father
first abused her. This abuse occurred regularly. "He abused me
from the age of three to around 11 or 12," she said. It happened,
even when the family went camping in France or on one of the boats her
father owned on the River Shannon. He was so friendly towards other
young holidaymakers that he became known as the "children's entertainer".
One victim described him as a "charming, Rolf Harris look-a-like"
when he first befriended her.
"He abused me from the age of three to around 11 or 12," said
Audrey. "He was not the sort of person you'd be wary of, not at
all. He was very charming, a lot of parents left him minding children,”
she said.
The other women described in their victim impact reports how they suffered
from suicidal feelings, mistrust of men, panic attacks and insomnia.
Many described a negative impact on family and marital relationships
and having concerns about children being left alone with men.
Judge Delahunt said that a change in legislation over the 15 years of
Delaney's actions meant that the maximum penalty available to her in
some of the cases was two years' imprisonment, while the sentence available
in the later offences was 10 years. She stressed that it was important
that the victims of these assaults understood this so they would not
think she was minimising the impact Delaney's offences had on some of
them.
Judge Delahunt also said she was taking into account the multiplicity
of the charges, the number and young ages of the victims, the fact that
his actions represented a breach of trust and that he carried out some
of the offences while others were present.
According to defence counsel Luigi Rea SC his client was a retired man
who was now "a pariah in his own family" and would be "watched
by a hawk's eye" by family members around children . "He is
punished every day in a very real way."
Mr. Rea said Delaney's wife, who sat beside him in the court, was in
"an appalling dilemma" and he apologised for the position
she found herself in. He also suggested there were no aggravating factors
which often accompanied such cases and said his client had not come
to Garda attention again since the last of the offences in 1989. Delaney
had also voluntarily attended counselling in the early 1990s and now
appreciated how traumatic the abuse had been and "he has sent letters
of apology to all his victims," said Mr. Rea.
Judge Delahunt suspended the last 12 months of the sentence because
Delaney had now gained some "victim empathy" through treatment
at the Granada Institute and was considered to be at a low risk of re-offending.
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