Tag Archives: Sex abuse

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 …

A Clare man who threatened to kill his partner’s nine-year-old daughter if she told anyone of his sexual abuse has been jailed for 13 years. The three-year period of severe abuse was only uncovered when the victim’s younger brother, who was five years old, told their aunt. The court heard the girl is now “extremely traumatised.” The 25-year-old man pleaded guilty at the Central Criminal Court to one sample count each of anal rape and sexual assault of the girl between 2009 and 2012 in County Clare. Describing the abuse as being in the highest category of gravity, Mr Justice Tony Hunt said the man “repeatedly and flagrantly” breached the trust placed in him by the victim’s mother, and the life of his victim will be “permanently marred” by his crimes. The abuse began when the man moved in with the victim’s mother and lasted until the return of the victim’s aunt from overseas. The parties in the case cannot …