‘Quasi-father figure’ found guilty of abusing orphaned children more than 50 years ago

A 92-year-old man has been found guilty of eight counts of indecent assault more than 50 years ago against two orphaned children to whom he was a “quasi-father figure”.A jury at Ennis Circuit Court on Wednesday returned unanimous guilty verdicts on the eight counts of indecent assault, which were alleged to have happened on dates between July 1st, 1973 and January 31st, 1975. The sisters were aged between eight and 10 years during that time, with six counts relating to the older sister and two to the younger. Their parents had died by the time they were aged five and four and they eventually came into the care of the accused and his wife in the early 1970s.Prosecution barrister Sarah Jane Comerford told the trial the man was a “quasi-father figure” to the vulnerable girls at the time he “perpetrated these offences” against them.READ MOREThe man previously paid €30,000 to each woman, and €10,000 in costs, in settlement of a civil case alleging sexual abuse. The payment was made with no admission of liability. The women – now aged in their 60s – travelled from the US and Canada to give evidence during the five-day criminal trial. They had returned to their homes before the case concluded.The defendant, who requires a mobility scooter to get around, was aged between 39 and 40 at the time of the offending.During the trial, when asked why she waited until 2024 to make a complaint against the accused, the younger sister said the defendant’s wife died in late 2023 “and my sister and I always had a pact that if something happened to her first, we would talk to the police about the accused and what he did”. The complainant said she loved the defendant’s wife, who took them into her care after their parents died. She told the jury she was “very happy” before the abuse began and that the man told her “we were going to be a family and that is what I was craving since I lost my Mum and Dad so young”.“I was very vulnerable – I just wanted to be loved,” she added. The accused has one previous conviction for the indecent assault of a 13-year-old boy at his home in 1985. He received a suspended 12-month sentence after pleading guilty in 2011. Comerford said he could be further remanded on bail pending sentence and that time would be required to gather medical documents. A date for the man’s sentencing will be fixed at an upcoming court sitting.