Tag Archives: Clare rape cases

A CLARE man who repeatedly abused young girls over a 42-year period was a “predator” and “wolf in sheep’s clothing” a court has heard. Ennis circuit court has heard harrowing details of the abuse carried out by the 68-year-old man against four girls at locations in Clare between 1976 and 2018. He was sent forward for trial on two books of evidence comprising 203 charges of indecent and sexual assault. He pleaded guilty to a total of 53 sample counts concerning three girls between 1976 and 2004. The man, who cannot be named to protect the identities of the victims, also admitted one further count of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl in the summer of 2018. Detective Garda Conor Flaherty of the Clare garda division’s protective services unit (PSU) told the court the abuse came to light in July 2019 when a mother of one of the victims confronted the man at a family funeral. Detective Flaherty told the court …

A “MONSTER” who gave his daughter drugs and alcohol, sexually assaulted her repeatedly over a six-year period and raped her when she was 15 has had his five-year prison sentence almost doubled by the Court of Appeal. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) had argued before the three-judge court that the sentence imposed on Michael O’Donoghue (43) was unduly lenient given the gravity of the offences. The victim, Aimee Foley (20), cried when the original five-year sentence was imposed and her family complained that the sentence was not enough for what O’Donoghue had done. Ms Foley was in court for Friday’s hearing and sat flanked by her family while her father sat some four metres away in the dock. She cried as she left court and outside told the media that the new sentence will “never be enough for me and my family” but offers a “sliver of justice”. She said sentencing for sexual offences in Ireland can be “appalling …